As early as the Qin Shi Huang period, the southern county was set up, and Yazhou was one of the elephant counties. During the Song Dynasty, it became the southernmost prefecture-level prefecture in China. Because it hangs overseas, it has been called "poor desert island", "ghost gate" and "" since ancient times.

It is precisely because it has not been vigorously developed, the population is small, and the precautions are not strict, so it has become Chen Qiang's choice. When he arrived at Yulin Port in Yazhou by boat, what he saw was a deserted and deserted scene. But Chen Qiang didn't care, the sunshine, seawater, beach, climate, forest hot springs...... With these elements, wouldn't it be a great place for a beautiful vacation?

When he abandoned the ship and landed on the shore, Chen Qiang was no longer low-key at the time, with a full set of official uniforms, and the twenty elite members of the Ziqiang Business Group were escorted by guns, and they stepped on the dock proudly. Well, Chen Qiang didn't regard his four officials as idle positions and alternates, in this place where Emperor Gao was far away, he regarded himself as the biggest chief. Defy? Are your servants as good as the people I brought? In addition, Chen Qiang is very bold, not to mention the words that dare to make up the governor Cen Chunxuan, even the emperor's dictation he dares to bluff people.

Looking forward to the flying gods, Chen Qiang didn't even notice that anyone came to salute, pay respects! Only two fellows who seemed to be soldiers cowered in the distance and peeked in this way.

Of course, there were people who came to greet him, Du Jun Yi Benxi, who was at the front station, with a few foreigners and a group of porters.

Seeing Chen Qiang's appearance, Du Jun Yi Benxi didn't dare to laugh, and when he approached, he didn't know how to call him appropriately. Chen Qiang grinned, smiled uglyly, waved his hand and said, "You are familiar with the situation, just arrange it!" ”

Sitting in the carriage, in the sound of clattering hooves, Du Juncai introduced the sudden situation in Yazhou to Chen Qiang.

“…… The dog county commander was lucky enough to pick up a life, but dozens of grains of iron sand were hit in his back and buttocks, and he was lying in the county office and howling miserably. Du Jun had a happy smile on his face, "He's scared to death." Summoning all the soldiers of the garrison into the city and taking strict precautions. Therefore, there are only a few soldiers left on this dock who are checking and seeing your official authority. But I didn't even dare to ask. ”

Chen Qiang frowned slightly, and asked puzzledly: "You said in the letter that this county official is cowardly and incompetent, fearful of the ocean, and the matter of buying and selling land is going smoothly. Why did Wan Fuhua and them suddenly attack such a guy again, is there anything that has changed? ”

Du Jun remembered that they took foreigners to the county government to handle the sale of land. I couldn't help but sneer with disdain. At that time, the small magistrate of Yazhou actually received them with the etiquette of greeting the adults, and the arrogant foreigners with a foreign mouth immediately frightened the county official. While talking, the county official was addicted to cigarettes again, exchanged tears, yawned all day, and was embarrassed to be presumptuous in front of Lord Yang, and worked extremely hard. When the translator explained his intentions, the county official and the master only whispered two words, and then happily agreed.

The government is afraid of foreigners. Foreigners are afraid of surnames. At the time, such a phenomenon was commonplace, and it was not surprising at all.

"Wan Fuhua and they originally went to assassinate Fan Yunti, the magistrate of Wanxian County, because they were very honest and had political voices everywhere they went, so they set the target as the magistrate of Yazhou." Du Jun explained: "Besides, they think that creating chaos in Yazhou is very beneficial to your arrival. ”

Chen Qiang thought for a while, shook his head and said, "That's not the case, you guys think badly." This county official is cowardly and incompetent. If we change to shrewd and capable officials, won't we be hindered everywhere? If Fan Yunti is a good official, you don't want to kill him. But you should be able to hurt him, right? Wanxian (Wanzhou) is a place where things are planned, and it is very disadvantageous to have such a good official in charge! ”

Du Jun frowned and pondered for a long time, patted his thigh lightly, and said, "That's the truth, it's really bad." But what now? ”

Chen Qiang smiled bitterly. said: "The matter has come to this, fortunately, the county official is still alive." Since he is scared to death, let us become the power to stabilize Yazhou and protect him! ”

"That's it." Du Jun was a little helpless, but after thinking about it, it was no big deal, and he couldn't help but say: "The self-improvement business group in Shanghai has been trained, and there are already sixty or seventy young members who have come here in batches, and now there are nearly forty people who are pretending to be workers. Distribute weapons to them, plus the more than 20 people you brought, such an armed force should be enough to maintain peace in Yazhou and make the county officials feel dependent. ”

"Then make the momentum bigger, let's organize a fake fight, so that the county officials can understand our force and understand who to rely on to save their lives and the people." Chen Qiang's thinking changed quickly, and the new plan immediately took shape, "The establishment of business groups in various places is allowed by the imperial court, although cross-local action is definitely not possible, but as long as the name is changed, it will not be a big problem to change from the Shanghai Ziqiang business group to the Yazhou business group." And openness, I think, seems to be more advantageous. In the future, maybe the merchant group will become a militia group, and we can firmly grasp the defense of Yazhou in our hands! ”

There are naturally internal reasons why merchant groups, fishing groups, and militia groups can appear in large numbers and openly in the late Qing Dynasty, when society is changing dramatically. The Manchu Qing Dynasty was financially tight, and could no longer afford to raise many soldiers, even if it was a new army that was organized and trained, it was not fully trained by the time of the Qing Dynasty, and the weapons and equipment in the new army were different, only the six towns of Beiyang were full of guns and cannons.

Due to the shortage of troops in the local areas, the old army was facing downsizing, the morale was weak and ineffective, and the local bandits were numerous, the law and order situation at that time was very bad. In desperation, the Manchu government had no choice but to use the financial resources of the merchant gentry to form an armed force to maintain local law and order. For example, the militias were mostly controlled by the local gentry and were too scattered, and the government officials did not fully control them as originally envisaged. However, the merchant groups and militia groups did not have the strong involvement of the government in supervising and managing them, and such a thing was very common, and some Manchu officials turned it in, believing that this was "raising tigers for trouble, and the gains outweighed the losses."

The carriage stopped at Yalang Bay (now Yalong Bay) on the eastern outskirts of Yazhou City, where two rows of two-story buildings had been built, and houses were still being built on the construction site not far away.

Blue sky, bright and warm sunshine, fresh and humid air, rolling green hills, rocks of a thousand postures, primitive and secluded mangrove forests, calm and quiet bays, clear and transparent waters, white and delicate sandy beaches, and coconut shadows on the coastline.

Looking from afar, Chen Qiang has a big heart. This is the paradise of his dreams, if he can accompany his lover here to the end of his life, what more can he ask for?

Lang Bay is still an unknown deserted beach, and vacation and leisure are still not in most people's minds.

"The hospital is fifteen miles to the northeast and five or six miles from the industrial base." Du Jun pointed out the direction and made an introduction. "Judging from the construction speed of more than two months, it is already very fast. Of course, the investment is also huge. More than 2,000 workers have been recruited, and the total cost is more than 100,000. ”

"Money is not an issue. The key is speed. Chen Qiang smiled indifferently, and there was a hint of fierceness in his smile.

After defeating and killing the local merchants of Chaozhou, and easily destroying a few small local merchants, Chen Qiang set his sights on a larger target - the Shanghai Opium Merchants Federation. The Englishmen, Mele, the Persians, the Tate, the Dasto, and the Baghdad Jews, Ezra, were the four leaders of the federation.

Strangle. The fingers, teeth, ears, noses, and other items of these four guys were delivered to their families piece by piece until they spit out the sinful money they had earned. At least 10,000 yuan per person, this is the price set by Chen Qiang, and at the same time, it is also a plan he personally made to collect money from kidnapping, captivity, and dismemberment...... He carefully planned every step of the way, and investigated the place of imprisonment on the spot, and explained the details of the operation to the killer group of Longxingtang.

For the killer group, Chen Qiang is relieved. Not only the skills they already have, but also their loyalty. And the half-hearted have long been eliminated. The information Chen Qiang obtained by probing the psychology of others was accurate, and the gang rules and family laws dealt with them strictly. Among the core figures of Longxingtang, they are now both respectful and fearful of Chen Qiang, and absolutely obedient.

Sometimes, righteousness is still very beneficial. Chen Qiang often lamented that it was easy to subdue a simple-minded and simple-minded man, but a knowledgeable and thoughtful person made him feel powerless from time to time.

If you are wrong, the bigger and faster you move, the farther you deviate from your goal. And as long as the direction is right, then one step forward is one step closer. Let's look at the development of the Revival Society. Although nothing earth-shattering has been done yet, no one should think that it is slow. With abundant financial support, local chapters have been established one after another, and there are already as many as five or six newspapers as mouthpieces. Compared to other revolutionary groups. The gap is even more visible.

"The speed of construction can be guaranteed, and the liaison party is also very smooth." Du Jun shook his head lightly and sighed, "It's just that I think these characters in the rivers and lakes are embarrassed and useful." ”

"Of course you can't pull it over and use it." Chen Qiang glanced at Du Jun and asked with a smile: "Tell me your opinion, after all, you have been in contact with Zheng Hongming and them." ”

"Full of feudal thoughts. The organization is scattered and uneven, and it is quite difficult to navigate. Du Jun said with a wry smile: "What about the anti-Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, I don't know what the revolution is?" However, the tone was quite loud, saying that as long as he had sufficient salaries and weapons, he could gather tens of thousands of people to carry out riots throughout Qiong. And it was planned to take Chengmai Lingao Danzhou Thanksgiving Changhua to the west, and Qiongshan Changle Association Wanzhou Lingshui Yazhou to the east to drive the Qing army out of Qiongzhou. ”

"Hehe, is it self-confidence, or is it bragging?" Chen Qiang smiled and said: "I think it's greedy for money and confusing people with big words." ”

"The people we sent can't play their due role in the point meeting, Zheng Hongming and other leaders accept our people, but they also guard against them." Du Jun's dissatisfaction was overflowing, "As you said, they are indeed greedy for money, and they have to make some gestures. ”

"It's great that you can see that." Chen Qiang did not hide his appreciation, paused, and then said: "Many revolutionary groups are suffering from impatience, as long as they oppose the Qing Dynasty, they will not care about the seventy-twenty-one, they will use it when they pull it over, and completely ignore the consequences. The party is unreliable, as I have mentioned before, but it is not very convincing. You and other comrades have had a lot of contact with the party in Qiongzhou, and your personal experience is also real. Writing a report would be useful for Headquarters to reconsider its strategic deployment. ”

"That-" Du Jun hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then such a big stall has been spread out in Qiongzhou, how to clean it up?" ”

"On our own." Chen Qiang waved his hand resolutely, "In the name of development and construction, a large number of progressive young people are transported here." Even if we recruit the poor people in the country and then organize them in education, we can raise a team, a team that is completely revolutionary, disciplined, and obedient to command. ”

"Zheng Hongming, is this line going to be broken?" Du Jun asked tentatively: "He only knows about the Revival Society, but he doesn't know your identity, let alone that the industry here is for the Fuxing Society." ”

Chen Qiang narrowed his eyes and sneered: "If you can't rely on it, then use it." Slowly withdraw our people, pay for the weapons, and give them a part. With such a force existing, wouldn't it be justified for us to have arms? ”

"Raising thieves with self-respect?" Du Jun blurted out, and immediately smiled, "This is ugly, it should be to protect the territory and the people." ”

"Same meaning." Chen Qiang smiled faintly, stretched out his finger and pointed to the built house, "There are walls around the residential area, and the safety work must be done well." If you have time tonight, let's have a meeting here! ”

……………

Shanghai.

The night was quiet and the lights were bright, and Song Jiaoren, who had served as the chief writer of the "Minli Daily" six years earlier than in history, was immersed in hard reading. The new shelves are almost entirely filled with books on the political theories and social systems of Western capitalism.

Historically, Soong Jiaoren began to openly and purposefully criticize current affairs and explain his political views, which should have begun in 1905, which is not much different from the current time. At that time, the Qing government was preparing for the constitution in the midst of internal and external difficulties, and carried out careful reforms without endangering the ruling power of those in power. And Song Jiaoren has already seen that these small-footed women-like reforms are not so much about learning from the West, but as the Qing government using Westerners' political tools to consolidate its own dominance. Therefore, he believes that the "constitution of the Qing court" is a false veil and will certainly not succeed.

In the ensuing debate with the reformists represented by Liang Qichao, Song Jiaoren, like Zhang Yan, kept a considerable distance from the polemic and maintained respect for the constitutionalist.

With this calmness and rationality alone, Song Jiaoren's thoughts and personality are very similar to Chen Qiang's, and he has a quite consistent understanding and recognition of the theories put forward by Chen Qiang and the revolutionary strategy of the Revival Society.

The failure of the Changsha uprising caused Song Jiaoren to have doubts and concerns about the ability of the Hui Party, which was very similar to Chen Qiang's lack of hope for the Hui Party.

All in all, Song Jiaoren, who gradually replaced Cai Yuanpei as the president of the Renaissance Association, continued to systematize Western political ideas, and as Chen Qiang expected, he became more and more tacit with him.

………… (To be continued.) )