The constitutional movement was surging, and Chen Wenqiang both promoted and participated, as if he had become the new standard-bearer of the constitutionalists, and behind him was the support and encouragement of a group of constitutionalist leaders, shouting and cheering. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

On November 2, the Russian emperor proclaimed the constitution; On November 6, the Tsar issued another decree for the release of all political prisoners. Russia's promulgation of the constitution so quickly shook the people of the country and made them even more anxious.

The constitutionalists, who were stimulated and encouraged, were even more excited when they heard the news. On November 15, in Shanghai, the gentry of Shanghai attended the opening ceremony of the Fazheng Seminar, and then held a meeting to determine the draft of the constitutional petition, and jointly sent a telegram to the Qing Constitutional Compilation and Investigation Hall: "I sincerely hope that the Queen Mother, the Emperor, the Zhongtang, and the Princes will read the difficulties of the court, and follow the hopes of the people, and take advantage of this time when they are united in one heart, exert their perseverance, and make a decisive decision to open the National Assembly, within three years", and send a telegram to the provinces.

Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Shanxi, Zhejiang, and other provinces have launched petition signature campaigns one after another, and plans to push their representatives to Beijing to submit petitions.

According to statistics, a large number of people signed the petition in various provinces: 4,000 in Henan, 5,000 in Anhui, 13,000 in Jiangsu, and 4,000 in Shanxi. The women's circles of Hunan Province submitted a separate petition, and it was immediately spread as a beautiful talk. In addition, 1,500 people from the Eight Banners of Beijing signed the letter, and Cheng Dequan, governor of Heilongjiang, Duanfang, governor of Liangjiang, Lin Shaonian, governor of Henan, and Sun Baoqi, Hu Weide, and Li Jiaju, envoys stationed abroad, also sent telegrams requesting the constitution to be established quickly. When the Constitutional Compilation and Investigation Center was discussing the issue of the time limit for the constitution, the Fujian people Gao Chong advocated the opening of the National Assembly in 20 years, and was scolded as "stupid", and the Fujian Association announced that it did not recognize Gao Chong as a Fujianese.

Once the power of the people is mobilized, the process and outcome are beyond the control and anticipation of the designers of the reform.

In a sense, the revolutionaries did not want the new policies and constitutionalism implemented by the Qing court to achieve practical results, because they were not in line with their purposes. Therefore, they were not only suspicious of the motives of the Qing court's implementation of the new policy and constitutionalism. There is some kind of malice.

But the matter is so strange, Wu Yue's assassination of the five ministers was intended to obstruct the constitutional process of the Qing court, but it had the opposite effect. However, the constitutionalists took advantage of this opportunity, coupled with the influence of the Russian constitution, to form a trend of rebellion against the imperial court.

"I'm busy. It's just too busy. Chen Wenqiang had just finished attending the enlarged petition and signature meeting organized by the constitutionalists in Guangzhou, and he also made an impassioned speech at the meeting.

"Busy, yes, the official knows, knows." Li Zhun stretched out his hand and asked Chen Wenqiang to speak next to him, but the expression on his face was bitter and sad.

"Constitutionalism is the trend of the times. Look at this people's heart, people's morale, ah-" Chen Wenqiang pretended to stretch out his hand and point, as if he was angry with Li Zhun, "Why is Lord Li sad, are you a diehard, you want to obstruct the constitution, and you want to lose the support of the people and accumulate grievances?" ”

"Huh?" Li Zhun was full of worries and was first questioned by Chen Wenqiang. Confused again.

"Ahh Chen Wenqiang stopped and widened his eyes. said: "Even the Governor of the Governor agrees with the constitution, and you still have to make another complication?" ”

"No, no." Li Zhun hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It's good to establish a constitution, this official is in favor of raising his hands." This time, I came to talk to Lord Chen, but it was not for the sake of constitutionalism. It's a matter of chaos in Qiongzhou. ”

"What does the chaos have to do with me? It's a matter of slashing or stroking, it's my business. Chen Wenqiang rolled his eyes and snorted, "The civil official has three hands, and the military general has three legs." This is really not a rumor. Look at the two patrol battalions you sent, didn't they say that they were very capable of fighting, why did they hear that the rebels were coming, they were so frightened that they abandoned the defense line and ran to the port of Yazhou, just thinking about escaping by boat? ”

Li Zhun sighed helplessly and said, "Lord Chen, let's talk about it when we get to the place, these things can't be explained in one or two sentences." ”

Chen Wenqiang tilted his head, looked at Li Zhun for a while, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Let's go, take my car, don't sit in a sedan chair, and don't ride a horse." ”

Li Zhun grinned, helpless, got into Chen Wenqiang's car, pointed the way, and drove towards the sailor platform, followed by a group of guards on horseback or running.

"Made in Germany, handmade." Chen Wenqiang honked his horn and showed off: "How is it, it feels good, right?" ”

"Expensive, right?" Li Zhun asked sullenly: "Or is it a kickback given by the Germans?" ”

"I'm not Sheng Xuanhuai, using the country's money to run an industry, gain fame, and enrich my own pockets." Chen Wenqiang pursed his lips and said: "But this car really doesn't cost money, the Germans want to make the ship dock at Yazhou Port, add water, and simply repair it." Well, that's the requirement. ”

"It's a big deal." Li Zhun paused for a moment and said euphemistically: "It's okay for a merchant ship, but what if it's a warship?" ”

"So I haven't promised them yet." Chen Wenqiang thought for a while and said: "The incident of the chaotic party in Qiongzhou has a bad impact, and there must be a solution. Moreover, this, this assassination, is a headache! ”

Li Zhun's eyes flashed, and he immediately felt that he was similar to Chen Wenqiang's worries, there must be a lot of common language, and his mood was relaxed.

When they arrived at the sailor's platform, Chen Wenqiang and Li Zhun went straight to the government office and sat down in the hall. The subordinates served refreshments, and Li Zhunping retired from the idle miscellaneous people, and only talked with Chen Wenqiang alone.

"The rebels are afraid of foreigners, that's for sure." Li Zhun smiled bitterly and said, "You recruited foreigners to act as a façade, and you also bought a machine gun, which is a good trick." As for the two patrol battalions, it's not that they are afraid of death, they are indeed invincible to the rebellious party! Do you know that the rebel forces have machine guns, how can this be resisted by the patrol battalion? ”

"Then increase the troops, buy a machine gun if you don't have one!" Chen Wenqiang frowned, and said very dissatisfied: "If you delay it like this, even if the chaotic party doesn't become bigger, I'm afraid that the court will be punished, right?" ”

"The assassination of the rebel party is really terrible, and most of the troops are concentrated in Guangzhou City to maintain law and order." Li Zhun shook his head again and again, "If you want to adjust it again, the time is not short!" Besides, when it comes to buying firearms, where does the money come from? It took a lot of money to form a new army, and I am afraid that if there are machine guns, it will not be the turn of the patrol battalion. ”

Chen Wenqiang thought about it, sighed, and said: "Assassination can't be prevented, it's really worrying. To tell you the truth, I have already sent someone to visit Song Fuhua and invested 100,000 yuan to buy the recovery bond to show that there is no hostility. ”

"Spend money to buy peace!" Li Zhun was not shocked, but felt that in the face of an unguardable assassination, this was really a way to save his life. "What about your Qiongzhou industry? If the chaotic party causes trouble in Qiongzhou for a long time, I am afraid that sooner or later it will suffer. ”

"It won't be a long-term disaster." Chen Wenqiang glanced around, lowered his voice and said, "Song Fuhua has great ambitions, how can Qiongzhou be satisfied?" He had found a place of stability, like Borneo, and he was ready to withdraw his troops from Qiongzhou. Recruit and train troops in Borneo. ”

"Borneo?" Li Zhun hurriedly took out the map, spread it on the table and pointed it with his fingers, "Here, the territory of the Dutch?" ”

"Pontianak." Chen Wenqiang nodded with his finger with certainty, "There are the largest number of Chinese there, and there is also the establishment of the Lanfang Republic in history, which is quite advantageous to recuperate and recuperate in order to make a big move." And the Netherlands is a small country. Thousands of miles away, if it is consumed for a long time, it is estimated that it will not be able to support it. Moreover, the local natives also resented being ruled by outsiders, and if they responded in a group and caused chaos in all directions, the Dutch would be difficult to resist. Of course, they will not go to war with the Dutch right away. Rather, what secret agreement should have been reached......"

Compared with Chen Wenqiang's knowledge of history and geography, Li Zhun is obviously only a student. Where is the Netherlands? How big is the country? What is the population? What about the size and population of the ruled colonies? was fooled by Chen Wenqiang. He was dizzy and blinded, only knowing that the Qiongzhou Rebellion seemed to be going to open up another battlefield, and it seemed that he could solve this trouble without using a big sword.

"It is estimated that the Revival Association has also seen clearly that there are many restrictions on the development of Qiongzhou. Defeated the officers and soldiers of Qiongzhou, as well as the officers and soldiers of Guangdong, and the officers and soldiers from other places sent, when was it a leader? "Chen Wenqiang probed Li Zhun's mind and continued to play the Dafa of fooling." Moreover, the trend of constitutionalism in the country was flourishing, which was very unfavorable to the revolution. Therefore, they want to wait and see, preserve their strength, and then choose the opportunity to make a comeback after they have developed and grown. The news obtained from Xu Chunshan also seems to prove the changes in the revival society. ”

"It's good to be gone." Li Zhun tried hard to sort out these complicated clues, thought for a long time, looked at Chen Wenqiang and asked, "I have no problem here, let them withdraw from Qiongzhou as soon as possible." Is there anything they can't ask for? ”

"If I can send these plague gods away, I'd rather pay a huge sum of money." Chen Wenqiang shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Lord Li should know the composition of the rebel forces, right?" Some of them are the backbone of the Fuxing Society, while others are the local party in Qiongzhou. The revival society is about to withdraw, and they still want to do a good job in the aftermath, that is, those members of the association who do not want to go to a foreign country, as well as their families. That's why they dispatched the No. 1 assassination master, as well as the killer group, to carry out assassinations and disrupt the government's conquest plan. ”

"I don't quite understand." Li Zhun shook his head.

Actually, I don't really understand. Chen Wenqiang smiled bitterly and said, "Let's take a good look, this sounds a bit messy." First of all, the Fuxing Society wants to preserve its strength and withdraw its men and horses from Qiongzhou; Secondly, the local chaotic party in the hometown does not want to leave, and they have robbed a lot, and they want to live a peaceful life, but they are afraid that the government will not forgive, and now they have to rely on the Fuxing Association to fight and die; In the end, the Renaissance Society and the local rebels wanted to find the best of both worlds, and wanted to make a deal with the government. If the deal fails, the Revival Society can only toss around in Qiongzhou, and still have to send killers to kill the important officials of the government. ”

"Yours, understood?" Chen Wenqiang raised his eyebrows at Li Zhun, who was stunned.

"Probably, it seems to be a little understood." Li Zhun touched his beard and said guessingly: "As long as the government does not pursue some of the chaotic parties, the Renaissance Association will withdraw its backbone people from Qiongzhou and will not toss." ”

"Master Li is very knowledgeable, and this sentence is clear." Chen Wenqiang stretched out his thumb and praised it, and said: "But I don't think this is very safe, mainly because Xu Chunshan's asking price is very high, so I didn't inform Master Li." ”

"Tell me, what does Xu Chunshan want?" Li Zhun was interested, mainly because he saw that the difficulties that had been plagued for a long time had been solved, and his mood was also relaxed.

"He, he wants to be an official." Chen Wenqiang pursed his lips with disdain, and continued: "He can have 1,800 people under him, and he wants the government to recruit security, and organize them into three patrol battalions, which are stationed in Wanning and Qionghai counties. However, no officers and troops are allowed to be stationed in the vicinity of Wanning and Qionghai counties, and public security can be entrusted to the militia groups. In addition, there should be no more than five patrol battalions of officers and soldiers in Qiongzhou, and all of them should be local children. ”

"Murder and arson?" Li Zhun frowned, and asked without hesitation: "But if this is a revival meeting, it will be a false shot, temporarily silent, and it has not actually withdrawn, if he is in turmoil day by day, what can he do?" ”

"Yes, you have to guard against it!" Chen Wenqiang nodded yes with deep sympathy, paused, and then induced: "Then how does Master Li think you can believe it?" ”

"He has the conditions, and we also have the requirements." Li Zhun picked up the teacup, sipped lightly, pondered, and said slowly: "Zhao'an is okay, but if you want to send someone to supervise it in its army, daily reporting is indispensable; As for the garrison in Qiongzhou, there is no problem in recruiting locals, and it is impossible for the Guangdong patrol battalion to be stationed abroad for a long time; Wanning and Qionghai can be stationed, but they must not interfere with the administration, obstruct the government from sending personnel to manage, and do not disturb the locality; And ......"

"The armed forces of the merchant groups and the militia groups must be maintained, or even strengthened, in order to deal with possible chaos." Chen Wenqiang took advantage of Li Zhun's silence to interject: "Wanning and Qionghai are coastal counties and towns, as long as Qiongzhong is stuck and the road into the mountains is blocked, even if Xu Chunshan wants to make trouble, it will be difficult to form a climate. At that time, the officers and troops can land by sea and attack them twice, and it is better to concentrate them than to disperse them. ”

"As long as the chaotic party stabilizes, there will naturally be many means to divide and disintegrate." Li Zhun's train of thought seemed to have been opened by Chen Wenqiang, and a sinister smile appeared on his face, "As long as there is no revival in it, the party will be just a reckless person, looking for money and women, it is not difficult to control it!" ”

"Master Li is high, high-minded!" Chen Wenqiang smiled and echoed, "Being an official, that's a great way, Xu Chunshan has read for a few years and knows a few words, and if he wants to mix in officialdom, it's really beyond his strength." ”

"Officialdom is as deep as the sea!" Li Zhun was greatly touched, stroked his forehead and sighed: "You have to be serious when you should be serious, and you have to be confused when you should be confused, this scale must be grasped." Otherwise, you don't even know how to die. ”

"That's why I'm not mixing in officialdom, the water is too deep." Chen Wenqiang snorted, rolled his eyes and said: "The heart of an official in China is too dark, you look at the United States, even the president can't do whatever he wants, thousands of eyes are staring at you, and the newspapers and media should not be delayed." ”

United States? Li Zhun's train of thought was taken away by Chen Wenqiang again. Speaking of which, although the assassination threat of the Renaissance Society made his heart tremble, he was most worried about the safety of his son, who was studying in the United States. (To be continued.) )