"In addition to the forts built on all sides, the embassy area has also established a complete set of administrative, judicial, economic, and cultural management institutions that read the power of China's political axe, plus the iron gates guarded by the outside [***] at the east and west ends, making it an authentic 'country within a country'. Not only are Chinese officials and civilians not allowed to enter at will, but even rickshaws must have special license plates to allow them to pass. In this sense, it is fair to say that the patrol and the police did not deliberately make things difficult for the student procession to pass through the embassy area. ”

There was nothing wrong with the reports of the reporters present that day, but at this time, no one realized that the turning point of history began at this moment.

Until now, neither the political axe nor the students themselves have realized the tremendous energy of the coming student uprising, and the serious social consequences that may be triggered.

Because the students had not used stratagem to deceive the authorities until now, the march did appear relatively peaceful at first. And if it weren't for the enraged students who temporarily turned to Zhaojialou, there would probably not be any major incidents in this day's march.

But all spontaneous mass movements are full of variables and may change direction at any time. What's more, there is also a distinction between moderates and radicals among the students. Not only did Li Changtai, the commander of the infantry army who arrived at the scene the first to arrive at the scene, not expect the seriousness of the situation, but also the political axe and the military and police did not expect that the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse after this. Even Cao Rulin, one of the main parties involved, knew the slogans of the students on the street at that time, but he did not feel the danger, but returned home as usual after attending a luncheon at the presidential palace.

The "legal" arrest at the west exit of Dongjiaomin Lane and the police's "legal" blockade not only did not quell the students' protests, but provoked a backlash.

"Without a presidential decree and a diplomatic note, you are not allowed to enter the embassy area and parade! This is based on the 'peace treaty'! ”

After determining that it was impossible to pass through the embassy district, a student representative screamed in indignation.

"Is such an unequal 'peace treaty' in line with 'justice'?"

"Why are our troops not allowed to pass through our own land? Embassy circles! What is the Embassy Boundary? This is our shame! Disgrace! ”

"Now that the country is still not dead, and our own land is no longer allowed to pass through us, what will happen to the humiliation and pain after death?!"

The inability of the procession to pass through the embassy area made the students feel angry, and although the young students were enthusiastic, what was in front of them was an ironclad and cold fact: the embassy circles were not allowed to pass! Even if you blow up your lungs, it won't help!

Just when the students were very angry and deflated, I don't know who said, "Go to Zhaojialou!" Find the traitor who is said to be a traitor to settle accounts! ”

Hearing this shout, the originally angry crowd immediately became boiling.

Some journalists recorded the scene as follows:

"The procession that had been blocked in Dongjiaomin Lane for a long time, eager to get the traitor and let it go, decided to go straight to Cao Rulin's house, and Fu Sinian, who was responsible for the commander-in-chief at that time, was afraid of an accident and tried his best to dissuade him from going, but it had no effect at all."

"At that time, the student team marched to Dongjiaomin Lane and was blocked, and the forerunner shouted, 'Go straight to Cao's house'! The crowd was indignant, and the sound shook the roof tiles. ”

But when the procession passed through Dongjiaomin Alley, some people suddenly shouted that they would go to the residence of Cao Rulin, Zhaojialou, to demonstrate. At a time when the masses were angry, this loud slogan was unanimously supported by the masses. ”

On June 4, the "stroke of genius" such as going to Zhaojialou is actually the unique "charm" of the mass movement. I can't tell whose idea it is, you say it, I say it, the crowd stirs up each other, and if you are not careful, there may be a "pioneering act". One student leader put it this way: "At this time, the various elements of the masses did not have a surname, but everyone sang and walked the same", and "it is difficult to determine who influenced whom." Later, it is impossible to trace back to the source, to separate each other, and figure out which one first shouted the slogan of 'go straight to Cao's house'. ”

"The procession marched eastward, kicking up dust along the way. At that time, the streets of Yanjing were originally full of mud and sand, and it was the late spring and early summer, and the gusts of wind, coupled with the walking trampling of thousands of people, naturally there was a billowing dust mist, which went straight to the nostrils and mouth. …… It's just that when the crowd is excited, no one cares about such trivial matters, and we all chant slogans and distribute pre-printed leaflets. ”

At about half past four in the afternoon, the procession, which was still lined up, finally arrived at Cao Rulin's residence at No. 2 Zhaojialou, not far from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zhaojialou was originally the residence of Zhao Wensu, a scholar of Wenyuange University in the Ming Dynasty who reigned for only 6 years in the Ming Dynasty, because the pavilion on the rockery in the back garden of the house is like a building, so it is called Zhaojialou. Zhaojialou has two alleys that are not very wide in the north and south, and because of the relationship between Zhaojialou, it is called the former Zhaojialou Hutong and the later Zhaojialou Hutong. Today's Zhaojialou is Cao Rulin's mansion, divided into two parts, east and west, with a total of more than 50 houses, three gates, and rich and gorgeous interior decoration. To the west of it is a Chinese-style building, where Cao Rulin lives by himself; To the east is a Western-style bungalow with a roof, where Cao Rulin's father, Cao Chengda, lived. At this time, the doors and windows of Cao's house were equipped with iron grilles, which could not be opened. During the student parade, in order to prevent accidents, more than 30 military and police officers have been dispatched to protect here.

The scene of "burning Zhao's house" is the ** of this protest march, and there are various versions of this **.

"Those enthusiastic classmates who were ready to sacrifice had already jumped violently on the window holes in the fence wall when everyone was shouting, broke the iron window, and rolled into Cao Rulin's house."

"The student jumped out of the window and smashed the iron net with his fist."

"One student first smashed the glass window with his fist, climbed through the window, and then opened the door from the inside."

"A classmate twisted the iron gate twice from the window of the west courtyard (the classmate had practiced a good internal skill when he was a teenager, and he only needed to pinch it with his hand, he could straighten the bent iron door, and his strength was like this), opened a gap, he climbed in through the gap, broke away from the guarded police, opened the door, and the crowd swarmed in."

"A certain student found that there was a window in Cao's house, so he used the kung fu he had practiced since he was a child, and with the help of his classmates, he opened the window with a punch and jumped down."

"A certain gentleman is tall, so he stepped on the shoulders of his classmates, climbed the wall, broke the skylight, and jumped into the courtyard of the Cao thief first. The students smashed the lock of the gate and opened the gate, so the students outside rushed in. ”

"When the military and police were unprepared, we stepped on the shoulders of several other students, climbed on the windowsill and jumped in with the windows facing the street, and then smashed open the two gates, and many students swarmed in." (The above version sounds like a martial arts novel)

"The senior teacher student bravely stepped on the shoulders and climbed in from the back window of the gatehouse (communication room), opened the door, and another senior student entered through the wall, and the students rushed in and found that Cao Rulin and others had heard the wind and fled through the back door."

When the team arrived at Cao Rulin's mansion, they saw that the gate of the mansion was closed, and dozens of armed policemen were guarding the gate. The student contingent shouted slogans outside the gates, 'Down with the traitors'. But how can you get in? On the left and right sides of the gate of the mansion, there is a small window that is more than one person high, and at this time, there is suddenly a team leader (one of the people who participated in the secret meeting on the eve of May Fourth, a native of Hunan, a student of the Department of Mathematics and Science of the Higher Normal University, who has practiced martial arts, and has excellent strength), desperately jumped on the small window on the right, and then several policemen grabbed his leg and dragged it down. Another part of the people wept bitterly and addressed them: how traitors are traitors, how dangerous China is, etc., and the policemen were finally moved and relaxed. A certain gentleman looked inside, and there were dozens of armed policemen inside, with their guns pointed at him. Then a certain gentleman gave a speech to these policemen, and the policemen probably did not dare to shoot because of their conscience, so they changed their aiming posture. A certain gentleman jumped in desperately, and quickly and alertly opened the door, so a large group of students rushed in. ”

"After thousands of students poured into Cao Rulin's mansion, they scattered to all corners of this mansion like 'Grand View Garden'. So every corner was filled with the sound of shouting and smashing furniture. Students searched for Cao Rulin everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a person wearing a civil official dress came out, and someone who knew him shouted: 'This is Cao Rulin!' (Actually, it was Zhang Zongxiang), the crowd was very angry, so you punched, I kicked, knocked him to the ground. Just as he was fighting hard, a man suddenly came, desperately protecting him. When the student hit Cao Rulin's head, he covered Cao's head with his body; Hit Cao's feet, he covered Cao's feet with his body, he tried his best to protect Cao's thieves, and suffered many beatings, but he never said a word. Someone who knew him shouted, 'This is me, it's so strange!' Although everyone also hated Yue himself, they were afraid of making international negotiations, so they beat Cao Rulin to half death, and only then did he escort him to escape. After a while, Cao Rulin's father and aunt were found, and the public scolded him bitterly, scolding his father for raising such a traitorous son; The aunt was slapped twice. A small car was parked in the courtyard, and the students smashed it. When it was about to get dark, black smoke suddenly rose from the courtyard from behind, and after a while the fire spread ragingly, and the vast masses of our young people shouted slogans and dispersed. The next day, I learned that the classmate who was walking slowly behind was arrested more than 20 people. How did this fire start? Not many people knew about it at the time. The person who set the fire was the one who jumped out of the window and opened the door. I remember that when the team was marching on the street, a certain gentleman was in front of the team, and he asked his classmates to run to buy a box of matches, everyone knew that he didn't smoke, why did he need matches? But immediately realizing his intention to buy matches, he quickly left the group and bought a box for him, and the box of matches was of great use. This is the situation of beating Cao Rulin and burning Zhao's house. ”

There are many versions of the burning of Zhao's house.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and I saw flames rising from the roof of Cao's house. The cause of the fire is difficult to ascertain. …… At about 6 o'clock, when the fire began to cease, the students would still disperse in the whole column, and the police were the ones who took the people. There are dozens of students who have been executed. ”

"At that time, when I was arguing with the police, I broke the electric light, and the power line caught fire, and it was burned."

"The students searched the lower room, and someone found half a barrel of kerosene, and they had the idea of 'burn this dog mongrel'."

"The crowd was even more angry when they couldn't find Cao Rulin, someone found a barrel of gasoline in the car room, and everyone shouted, 'Burn this thief's den.'" Gasoline was poured on the small stove, and the fire was blazing. ”

"There was a classmate who smoked a cigarette and had matches on him, and he saw that the bedroom was too gorgeous, and there was a woman (where did this start?). He was very angry, so he lit the green Luo Sha tent with a match, and suddenly there was a fire in the house, and the house was also ablaze. ”

"When a man walked outside Cao's house, he saw two students in long robes, taking out a foreign iron pot with kerosene in it, and whispering 'set it on fire'. Then he entered the north room of the courtyard, lifted the carpet, folded it on the square table, poured kerosene, and lit it with a match, and suddenly smoke rose. Someone followed them and saw it with his own eyes. Everyone recognized them as students of Yanjing Higher Normal School. ”

And the students of the high school unceremoniously took this "feat" under their names. The only difference is which of the high school students set the fire.

A senior high school student said: "I saw with my own eyes that a classmate of Yanjing High School set the house on fire with kerosene, and I also added a fire, and Zhaojialou suddenly caught fire." …… When the students walked into Cao's house, they first wanted to find the traitor to reason, but they couldn't find it, so the senior students took out the matches they had brought in advance and decided to set it on fire. The captain of the Peking Student Union found out about the incident and stopped him and said, 'This must not be! I can't take that responsibility! The student replied: 'Who wants you to be responsible!' You really can't be held responsible! And they set fire. ”

As for the truth about the burning of Zhao's house, there may never be a correct answer.

The so-called mass movement, in fact, is like this, and there are always times when the "organizers" and "leaders" cannot control it. The reason is simple: since you dare to rise up against authority, you will not take the order of "temporary command" as if it were a god. When it's time to make your own decision, the leaders of the student movement at Peking University or the leaders of the student movement at higher education can't actually control the situation. So, who can influence the situation? Not exactly. But it is an indisputable fact that in such an era, the most radical slogans and actions are the most alluring in the mass movement, and in this sense the so-called "situation" is the most susceptible to the influence of relatively radical rather than moderate students. If it weren't for this nameless fire, which "goes beyond reason," the military and police would not have been able to arrest people "with confidence," and the protests of students and citizens would not have been in full swing. In that case, the movement could well have ended differently.

A Peking University student recalled, "[The act of setting fire] was not approved by all the students present," and "some students, especially those at the Hosei College, thought that arson and beating people was an act that exceeded their official name and violated the spirit of the resolution of the conference. ”

The news of the students' burning of Zhao's house soon spread throughout the country.

"There's a lot of weirdness about it." Yang Shuoming, who was in Nanning, immediately noticed the strangeness after receiving the report as soon as possible.

Hearing Yang Shuoming say this, Chen Qiansheng, who was sitting opposite him, also nodded solemnly.

"How's the casualty?" Yang Shuoming frowned and asked Long Yonghua, who came to report.

"No deaths have been reported. The person who was beaten in Cao's mansion was Zhang Zongxiang, the minister stationed in Cao, because he was wearing a diplomat's dress at the time, so he was mistaken for Cao Rulin, so he was beaten and seriously injured. Long Yonghua replied, "By the time the military and police officially arrested people, most of those who attacked Cao's house with too much force were exhausted and ran back to school to rest." The remaining few who maintained order, strayed or onlookers, were arrested under the surroundment of the police. A total of 32 students were arrested, including 20 from Peking University, 8 from Higher Normal University, 2 from Industrial School, and 1 each from China University and Huiwen University. ”

"What's the use of catching them? These students were not arsonists. Chen Qiansheng shook his head and said hatefully, "What a bastard!" ”

"There are hundreds of people who have been detained by the outside world. At 7 p.m. that night, news of the arrest of the students in the march spread throughout the nine cities, and students from various schools held rallies to urgently discuss rescue strategies, because there were rumors that the arrested students would be "court-martialed." Fortunately, President Cai Yuanpei attended the speech, expressing sympathy for the students' patriotic motives and pointing out to the authorities that those who were executed by the military and police were not necessarily those who beat and destroyed people. Yesterday, someone had already released him from the police department, so as not to stir up the crowd again......"

Listening to Long Yonghua's answer, Yang Shuoming nodded silently, but at this time, his heart was far from being as calm as it seemed to be.

He had no idea that the vigorous student movement in Chinese history, which should have taken place on May 4, 1919, in his original historical time and space, would take place on June 4, 1920, in a similar form!

"How is Chief Cao?" Fu Xiaoxin asked.

Mr. Cao left through the back door before the students broke in, without meeting the students. I heard that Chief Cao's father and wife were a little frightened. More than half of Cao's mansion was burned down and is now uninhabitable, and President Li is arranging for the Cao family to move to Tuancheng to live in the city. Long Yonghua replied.

"His loss this time is big enough." Fu Hongru, the town guard of southern Fujian who was sitting on the side, sneered and said.

"It is said that when Chief Cao heard the students shouting outside the hospital, he didn't care, and when Director Wu Bingxiang of the Police Department was present, he ordered the Department to send more police officers to come to protect him, and Chief Cao also said, 'A few children, let them make trouble, there is nothing remarkable.'" But no one expected that the students would set fire to the house. ”

(To be continued)