See in. There are two paths in front of Yang Wangpeng. One is to take refuge in the alliance that is now enjoying the new bottled wine, and the other is to continue to stay in the united front and make achievements in his career with the help of Tang Shaoyi.

To tell the truth, Yang Wangpeng is not very satisfied with these two paths, and if there are other paths to take, he may prefer to take other paths rather than only choose one of the two paths.

Joining the League will certainly be warmly welcomed. In particular, Xiong Chengji repeatedly invited Yang Wangpeng to join the alliance on the dock at that time, and followed Mr. Sun to create a new situation in Nanyang, and this seems to be what Mr. Sun meant.

But the problem is that Yang Wangpeng has long lost the enthusiasm of the anti-Qing revolution, and the ups and downs of the Huan Sea in these years have long worn away his edges and corners, and now, he yearns for a peaceful life path. If he can exhibit in the political arena, he will continue to struggle in the political arena, if not, he will turn to the business exhibition, he does not expect to be able to become a rich man like the Beiyang politicians Xu Shichang and Feng Guozhang, as long as he can live a relatively rich life, he is very satisfied. The more important question is that the current League is no longer the same as the one that called for the anti-Qing revolution. organized, the current alliance has lost the tolerance it once had, more like a gang, when talking to Xiong Chengji on the dock. Yang Wangpeng learned that all those who now join the League must sign a declaration vowing to follow the leader to the end and never betray the organization, and must not only sign it, but also put their fingerprints, and this affidavit is kept by the leader himself.

In Yang Wangpeng's view, this approach is simply a ping-pong style, and the members are completely subordinate to a leader, which is much more clever than the presidential government implemented by Zhao Bei? It's not even as good as Zhao Bei's United Front, at least, the members of the United Front don't have to write a pledge of allegiance to the leader.

This is foolishness, not the embodiment of "revolutionary will." Yang Wangpeng was a little confused at that time. He couldn't understand why Xiong Sung-ki, who had always advocated constitutionalism and opposed the worship of leaders, suddenly changed his sex. Is it really because Mr. Sun's personality is too charming? Or is it because he lost his way of struggle after a few years of wandering in South America?

Yang Wangpeng did not ask Xiong Chengji what caused him to sign the affidavit of the alliance, and his intuition told him that the original alliance had disappeared, and the current alliance was a political organization with a new structure, which had strict discipline and used a very charlatan method to control members, which was a kind of dual control of spirit and **.

In other words, the current alliance is to fill an old bottle with new wine, and no one knows what the taste and strength of this wine is.

Yang Wangpeng didn't want to be controlled, and because of this, he didn't promise to join the alliance immediately, his excuse was that he wanted to think about it for a few days.

If Tang Shaoyi hadn't given Yang Wangpeng that telegram, if Tang Shaoyi hadn't promised on the telegram that he would provide a fairly thick stepping stone for Yang Wangpeng's career exhibition, maybe Yang Wangpeng would have pinched his nose and signed the affidavit of the Alliance, but Tang Shaoyi made a promise to Yang Wangpeng, so now Yang Wangpeng must weigh it seriously.

Now that Yang Wangpeng is invited to participate in the alliance, Yang Wangpeng can't help but express something, but since he hasn't made up his mind yet, this excuse is still the same as when he perfunctory Xiong Chengji last time.

"Jun Yi, to tell you the truth, I rushed to Sumatra this time to receive a letter from Xiong Weigen. He invited me to come over, ostensibly to catch up on the past, but in fact, Xiong Weigen also invited me to join the Alliance, but when I picked him up at the dock, I didn't agree to it, because I am still a member of the United Front after all, and if I leave the United Front in such a hurry and join the Alliance, it will be inappropriate in any way, plus I am also a senior adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and now the situation in Sumatra is chaotic if I need to take action. I can use this status to get involved in the aftermath, so now I need to consider whether or not to join the Alliance. I can't make up my mind right now. ”

Seeing that Yang Wangpeng said sincerely, Deng Yue didn't ask, just nodded, and then patted the shoulder of the former boss.

"If you join the same scene, I will also be your assistant."

The meaning of this is clear, that is, he is telling Yang Wangpeng that if he does not join the alliance, then. I'm sorry, I'm not going to serve you Yang Wangpeng anymore. However, this was said tactfully, and Yang Wangpeng could only smile bitterly.

At this time, the consultation between the League and the Nanyang Chinese Association was also concluded, and finally the member who presided over the meeting announced that Mr. Sun Wen, the leader of the League, was officially running as a candidate for the election of the next director of the Autonomous Bureau, and that voting would begin immediately after his speech. The one with the most votes wins, and if the first two candidates are close in terms of votes, a second round of voting will be held, and the one with the most votes will be the next director of the Home Authority Bureau.

The director of the Autonomous Bureau is now the de facto highest administrative official in Palembang City, and once he is elected, the influence of the Tongming Council will be in a short time; It is no exaggeration that in every corner of the Sichuan section to Sumatra, where there are Chinese, there will be an organization of the League, and the League has taken a fancy to this. That's why I hurried to participate in this election for the head of the autonomous bureau.

I saw the leader, Mr. Sun, walking onto the rostrum. Preparing to give a speech, Deng Wang, who was sitting next to Yang Wangpeng, became excited, got up and rushed over to stand under the rostrum, and chanted slogans with a group of league members, mainly the political propositions and programs of the league, which was basically that. Many members of the Autonomous Bureau who were inclined to the League also shouted slogans along with the "Three People's and Doctrines."

"What is this? Dancing gods? ”

You don't know this, this is called "brainwashing" said by foreigners. ”

Yang Wangpeng sat on his chair and couldn't help but smile when he heard the conversation between the two members of the Autonomous Bureau sitting in the front row. In fact, the United Front often shouts slogans, but it is not as exaggerated as the League, and the United Front has made actual achievements

Yang Wangpeng was interested in listening to what kind of speech Mr. Sun wanted to express in the League, so he got up and walked to the chair in front of him and sat down, listening carefully.

At this time, Mr. Sun had already stood on the rostrum and began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am not standing here today to make any big senses. I would just like to express my views on the current situation in the South Seas, in my opinion, the situation in Sumatra is now at a critical juncture, and internally, the insurgency and armed conflict on the island must end as soon as possible. After all, this is a colony of the Netherlands, and we are here to take up arms to defend the safety of our lives and property, which is completely forced, and the provocates are by no means us Chinese, we are only forced to act, we are self-defense, this must be made clear!

In my opinion, the new director of the Autonomous Bureau must do two things, the first is to resettle those who have been displaced by the war, regardless of their status or status. The second thing that the Autonomous Directorate will do is to contact the consuls of various countries in Palembang to explain the causes and consequences of the incident and emphasize the need for armed self-defense. Let the great powers release their suspicions and avoid the intervention of the great powers. ”

Yang Wangpeng sat down and listened carefully, and felt that Mr. Sun's speech was very organized, and it was exactly what the members of the Autonomous Bureau were most concerned about now, but on the other hand, he also thought that it seemed inappropriate that the speech deliberately avoided the Chinese Navy's ocean-going fleet, which was still cruising off the coast of Palembang. After all, the commissioners of the Autonomous Directorate also sent people to the fleet to offer condolences, and they knew it well. The existence of that fleet is a reliable guarantee for the smooth progress of the Chinese self-government movement in Sumatra. And only the central government of China can command the fleet, and the alliance will not be able to command.

Sure enough, facts have proved that Yang Wangpeng's analysis is very correct, and before Sun Xian'an finished his speech, one of the committee members stood up and shouted a few words in a loud voice.

"May I ask Mr. Sun, how do you plan to negotiate with the foreign powers? Is it just a mouth? Or the thousands of rabble that your allies will control? You know, this morning, two more Dutch warships sailed to Palembang, and now they are showing off their might in the coastal waters, do you plan to blow the Dutch warships away with mouth guns? ”

The words of the self-government councillor, who was clearly hostile to the League, caused a burst of laughter. More committee members began to make a commotion, and the order of the meeting room became a little chaotic.

"The best policy, negotiate with public international law, the next policy. The right of the Chinese to self-government is guaranteed by force. Mr. Sun was quick to answer the committee's questions. However, it is obviously not satisfactory to the other party.

"Force? What force? The Dutch warships are on the sea, and the cannons in our hands are all mountain guns and field guns, so how can they be bombarded with the naval guns of the warships? The commissioner asked again.

"Shut up! Shut up! Who told you to stand up and speak? Who told you to interrupt the speech of the gentleman

”

Before the member of the Autonomous Bureau could finish speaking, several of the cadres of the League shouted and tried to rush over and drag the member away from the crowd, but before they could get close to the well-mannered member, they heard a loud cry from the crowd.

"What do you want to do? Want to rebel? Don't forget, this is the Autonomous Bureau, what is the Autonomous Bureau? It is the office of the Nanyang Chinese Association! You can't mess around here! I just let you, if you mess around again, you're welcome! ”

Shocked by this reprimand, the cadres of the alliance immediately turned their heads to look.

Yang Wangpeng also turned his head to look over, and saw clearly that the appearance of the scolder was none other than Gong Chuntai, an important leader of the Nanyang Chinese Autonomous Association and the head of the militia group.

Gong Chuntai, this person was also very related to the alliance back then, and even joined hands to fight against the Qing