With the tacit approval of the Russian Foreign Ministry and with the cooperation of Brigadier General Sheyenis, the battle for the right to operate the railways in the three eastern provinces quickly began to heat up.

Since the railway construction plan of the three eastern provinces is an extremely important part of the Northeast New Deal, and in fact it is also the most important part for all countries, almost all countries are trying to start the railway cooperation plan on the grounds of the Northeast New Deal consultation.

As other countries stepped up, the German minister to China, Stra, also arrived in Dalian to meet with Song Biao, and the two sides had very detailed conversations on the situation in the three eastern provinces and the entire East Asian region.

Unlike the situation in which the countries of the Jinghan Railway were equal and united to deal with the Qing political axe, due to the confrontation between Russia, France and Britain, as well as the strong anti-British color in Russia, it was impossible for all countries to unite at all, which left Song Biao with enough stage space.

In the course of this month, Song Biao maneuvered between various countries, skillfully using this matter to reach the basic opinions of the "Financial Management Act of the Three Eastern Provinces" with France and Russia, and the Governor Yamen of the three eastern provinces first reached an agreement with France and Russia, that is, except for the official name of the three eastern provinces, "Northeast Bank", other banks have no right to mint and print metal currency, and the use of foreign currency is prohibited in the three eastern provinces except for the concession area, and if the banks want to issue the banknotes of the three provinces, they must be based on the Kanto silver dollar minted and printed by the Northeast Bank, and must have a 35% reserve rate.

On this basis, the three parties tacitly agreed that only the Northeast Bank, the Far Eastern Bank and the Russian-French controlled Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank had the right to issue notes.

The Northeast Bank hired the French as financial advisers, imported machinery and equipment from France, dyes for minting and printing currency, and the French helped the Northeast Bank to make plates, as well as anti-counterfeiting design.

On the last day of his trip in Dalian, Song Biao left the day's itinerary to Wang Zhaoming, the representative of the Xinhua Association in Chengdu, who stayed in this for a long time, and while actively contacting all parties and students in Chengdu, he also closely disseminated Song Biao's revolutionary theories, and developed the first batch of members for Song Biao's Xinhua Association, among which the most famous and most organized person was Wang Zhaoming.

Wang Zhaoming, many people may not be familiar with it, but his pen name "Jingwei" must be known to Chinese.

Song Biao actually didn't notice that Wang Zhaoming was the legendary Han Jian, until a few weeks ago, Wang Zhaoming sorted out some of his articles through Zheng Guiting, the representative of the Chinese businessmen, and Rong Xingqiao of the Far Eastern Commercial Bank, and presented them to Song Biao for review, and hoped to meet Song Biao, Song Biao realized that this person was the legendary "Wang. Jingwei".

Song Biao found out that he seemed to have a very close relationship with all kinds of Han Jian, and he did not refuse Wang Zhaoming's request to see him, but only arranged the trip on the last day.

On the afternoon of the day when he was going to take the train back to Fengtianfu in the evening, Song Biao arranged for Wang Zhaoming to stay at the Kanto Hotel and invited him to lunch, Song Biao's Xinhua Association has been secretly developing and growing, the army is Jiang Fangzhen, Shu Fangde, Zhao Tingzhu, and Zhang Yahu are developing members separately, Rong Xingqiao is responsible for contacting the business gentry and past students in the United States, and Wang Zhaoming is responsible for developing the organization among the international students. In the name of the national revolution, Rong Xingqiao was responsible for one-way contact with Wang Zhaoming, and the intermediary between him and Wang Zhaoming was Zheng Guiting, an overseas Chinese businessman.

Song Biao and the Far Eastern Commercial Bank's financial support for the Chinese Revolutionary Association was all handled through Zheng Guiting's hands.

Rong Xingqiao booked a box on the top floor of the hotel, where Wang Zhaoming was invited to lunch, and Zheng Guiting, Shu Fangde and Shu Fangxin accompanied Song Biao to attend, these people sat down in this box, which was basically the first congress of the Xinhua Society.

Song Biao came late because he had something to deal with, and when he and Shu Fangde entered the box together, everyone else had already arrived, and when they saw him, they all got up and made a move.

Song Biao motioned for everyone to sit down, and consciously glanced at Wang Zhaoming, because he had contact during his study abroad, Shu Fangde introduced Wang Zhaoming for Song Biao and said: "Junzuo, this is Wang Zhaoming, the representative of the international students, is currently studying at the University of Political Science and Law, and previously served as the chief writer of the "People's Daily" of the Alliance, and wrote a lot of good articles. ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, looked at Wang Zhaoming with a solemn expression, and condescended with a faint and quiet color, so that everyone present could feel a special calmness.

He will always be a confident person, calm and calm person, with his own thinking, neither going too far beyond others to the point that others cannot understand, but also being in the position of a leader, making people believe that he can firmly control the situation and the military power in his hands, so that people are willing to follow him.

Twenty-two-year-old Wang Zhaoming is indeed the kind of handsome and extraordinary young man, with thick hair and high health, a very straight nose, very handsome cheeks and just the right double eyelids, and his eyes are clear and flashing with the brilliance of a young man, full of passion.

People will always change, and things are also impermanent, who would have thought about the future?

Song Biao stepped forward to shake hands with Wang Zhaoming, and praised unhurriedly: "I have read your article, it is very well written, it is well said, and you should do it better, work hard for the country and the nation, right?" ”

Wang Zhaoming looked extremely excited, a kind of hot blood flowed in his body and intestines, and he replied very happily: "General Song, I have always wanted to see you in person, what you said is really good. ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, invited him to sit next to him, and instructed the others: "Everyone sit, here are all your own people and comrades, no need to see outside." ”

After hearing this command, you all sat down.

Wang Zhaoming used to be a very good young man, with passionate speeches, articles and assassinations, extremely loyal to follow Sun Yat-sen, after being imprisoned, he was released by Yuan Shikai, and tried to ensure that Yuan Shikai became the president to stop the Civil War, and persuaded Sun Yat-sen to step back from the presidency.

People will change, but the surname will not change, and the flaw of not taking a firm position will follow this person for the rest of his life.

Song Biao didn't think much about this at this time, his expectations for Wang Zhaoming were not high, but as soon as he sat down, Wang Zhaoming couldn't wait to seize this rare opportunity, and continued to praise him: "General Song, you proposed that the Han nationality should have a Han emperor, implement a constitutional monarchy, follow the example of Germany to strengthen the country, maintain a centralized and unified national system, and establish a strong Chinese empire. ”

When Song Biao heard this, he always felt a little ironic, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Objectively speaking, there was no tyranny in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and what the Manchu Qing implemented in China was only a colonial government. After all, the Manchus are a minority, and they do not have a unified basis of interests with our Han people. The nation is the modern continuation of the tribal body, each ethnic group only cares about itself in essence, if it is not for the last ruling needs, to maintain them to live like parasites, the Manchus do not have to think about the life and death of our Han people, if they can support themselves and can be rich forever, even if we die, they will not care. Therefore, the Manchus only practiced a colonial government in China, using us as shepherds, taking their flesh and skin from us to feed them, and in order to maintain this relationship, they were even willing to share our flesh and skin with the foreigners. This is the reason why the Qing Empire is constantly declining, allowing foreigners to bully and not resist, we can't continue to be bullied like this. ”

When they heard this, there was silence among themselves.

Rong Xingqiao sighed and said: "What the general said is very true, so that we woke up in vain, now the general has a heavy army, the three provinces of Xinjiang, and the consciousness of revolution, it will definitely be the hope of our people." ”

Because Zheng Guiting joined relatively late, in fact, a few months later than Wang Zhaoming, he immediately said: "General, for the fate of our Chinese, Zheng also has a small fortune in Yueben, and is willing to destroy his family to relieve difficulties and support the general's revolutionary cause." ”

As Song Biao's most important secretary, Shu Fangde immediately smiled and said: "Mr. Zheng, Mr. Rong, you two have a very high reputation in the business world, and the great cause of the military seat needs the support of the two of you. As the saying goes, we should work together for the common prosperity of the nation! ”

Rong Xingqiao praised: "Adjutant Shu said well, what he said! ”

Song Biao also bowed slightly, but said to Zheng Guiting: "China needs capitalists, and the free development of capital and the factors that promote social progress are precisely what China lacks, so Mr. Zheng does not need to destroy his family to relieve difficulties, and should rise up to be a first-class contemporary capitalist." As for the funds for the revolution, what is lacking is only a broad understanding and awareness. What we are doing now are two kinds of revolution and progress, one is the progress of the nation, and the other is the progress of the freedom of capital and the freedom of the boil, on the basis of these two foundations, whether it is the system of the empire or the republic of the boil, it is not important in itself. ”

Speaking of this, he continued to explain to everyone in the audience: "Many people talk about the republican system, but in the world, except for the United States and France, there are very few successful countries that have implemented a pure republican system, and the vast majority of the great powers still adopt constitutional monarchies. I think the constitutional monarchy system is indeed more suitable for our country, first, the Chinese population is large, our country has a population of 40,000, 98% are illiterate peasants, if it cannot be like France, the United States to popularize the votes to everyone, the so-called republican system is only meritocracy and provincial federal politics, China is extremely likely to fall into the division of the provinces to read the autonomy; Second, China generally lacks a modern conscious army, and the armies everywhere are old-style leaders, and it is impossible to effectively maintain the stability of the army when the political axe is alternated, and it is very likely that there will be a chaotic situation of warlords in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Third, the habit of history, China is vast, there are many reckless heroes, there will be large-scale military melee after the change of government in the past dynasties, and after the fall of the Qing political axe, there will be no exception, even if the revolution succeeds, it is still the old bureaucrats and old warlords who occupy the positions of military and political leaders in various places, and they have forcibly carried out the idealistic dream of a republic, and forcibly pushing China to implement a republican system will only allow the entire nation to continue to fight for 50 years. Therefore, the revolutionary goal that I agree with can only be to establish a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Han Chinese, overthrow the Manchu colonial rule, and implement a constitutional cabinet responsibility system. ”

Song Biao's three arguments that China should adopt a constitutional monarchy are very clear, and they are also the reasons why Rong Xingqiao, Wang Zhaoming and others chose to join the Xinhua Society, for everyone, the overthrow of the Manchu regime is the first step, the second step is to avoid the warlord melee at the end of the dynasties, and the establishment of a modern state with a Han constitutional monarchy is the third step.

Under the propaganda of Jiang Fangzhen and Shu Fangde, although everyone was already very clear about this point of view, when Song Biao said it himself, everyone still applauded and agreed.

Zheng Guiting said: "The general thinks about the long-term, the great fortune of the country, the struggle between the royalist and the Restoration, my generation supports the Restoration, the struggle between the Restoration and the revolution, our generation supports the revolution, between the republic and the constitution, our generation chooses the latter, this is the purpose of our Xinhua Association." ”

And they all praised together.

Although Song Biao's Xinhua Club is basically so many people at present, everyone can still feel that the truth is in the hands of a few of them, and their path is correct.

Wang Zhaoming immediately said: "General Song, after I return to the book, I plan to establish a new newspaper, call for a new revolution with a new platform, and call on compatriots to follow the example of Deyue, establish the Chinese Empire, abolish the Manchu imperial family, implement a constitutional monarchy, and maintain the unity of the country and the prosperity of the nation." ”

Song Biao nodded and said: "The task is difficult, you have to work harder, and the funding is not too big, I will continue to support you through the Far East Commercial Bank." This year is still the preparatory period for the establishment of the Xinhua Association and the Chinese Revolutionary Association, and there are no major activities for the time being, but starting next year, the Chinese Revolutionary Association will have a huge amount of funds of 1 million yuan every year, which should be enough for your activities there, right? ”

Wang Zhaoming said with a smile: "It must be enough, I have been discussing with all my colleagues in the Restoration Society before coming here, in general, compared with the Alliance and the Xingzhong Society, we are closer to the concept of the Restoration Society, especially Cai Yuanpei, Tao Chengzhang and Zhang Binglin, they have all talked with me, because of the similar ideas, they also persuaded me to join the Restoration Society, but I uphold Jiang Fangzhen's opinion, or insist on hosting the Chinese Revolutionary Association." ”

Song Biao thought for a while and said: "If everyone's opinions can really be unified, in fact, we can consider the merger of the two associations, and the purpose is to awaken more people to participate in this great revolution." ”

Many people misread the history of the revolution at the end of the Qing Dynasty and always think that the revolutionary party of the League was the mainstream of the revolution, but in fact this is not the case, although the revolution radically overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Restoration Society and the Constitutionalists also played a very huge role, and the revolutionary ideas of the Restoration Society are basically the same as those of Song Biao.

If it can really merge with Song Biao's Xinhua Society, it can completely dominate the political situation in China, and then unite with the constitutionalists after the elimination of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, whether it is in military strength, political power and mass basis, it is far superior to the League, such as Xu Shaotang, Lu Xun and others are also members of the Liberation Society.

The so-called republican trend of thought at the end of the Qing Dynasty was the trend of the times, which is a fallacy, for an ancient civilization like China, which has deep imperial roots, the constitutional monarchy is actually more stable, and the rebellion of the Republic of China is that the people, revolutionaries, and the army have no real republican ideology.

As Tao Chengzhang, the leader of the Guangfu Society, said, the revolution is to change the dynasty and restore the rivers and mountains of the Han people, and Zhang Binglin is the insistent on the root of the imperial system, even Cai Yuanpei has long held this idea.

Yuan Shikai's defeat as emperor was not because he was defeated as emperor, but because he had no constitutional thoughts, second, he had no foundation to command the world, third, he was unpopular with the people, and fourth, there were too many political enemies.

Hearing Song Biao say this, seeing that he also intended to cooperate with the Restoration Society, Wang Zhaoming was slightly stunned, and then said: "That's the same, I will definitely discuss it carefully with Mr. Cai after I go back." ”

Song Biao instructed: "Don't stick to the details, those who achieve big things are not informal, when the crowd rises up, unveil the rod." However, there are always many people in this world, and the part involving me for the time being is still the pseudonym of Song Zhizhong, or the surname Suo will not talk about the surname, but only Mr. Zhizhong. ”

Wang Zhaoming and Zheng Guiting nodded silently, keeping this in mind, they are the two major organizers of the Xinhua Society's activities, the former is active in the front, and the latter is supported in the back.

(To be continued)