The rapid defeat of the Hubei Revolutionary Army soon alarmed the whole country, even across the Yangtze River could not resist for half an hour, and against the backdrop of the Hubei Revolutionary Army, the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army was further demonstrated.

Of course, the defection of Li Yuanhong, the actual commander of the 21st Mixed Association and the Hubei Revolutionary Army, at the last moment, as well as the negative factors of the civil war of the revolutionary army, were also the main reasons for this quick defeat; after all, this was not a battle between the revolutionary army and the Qing army, the Northeast Army rushed over to defend the fruits of victory, and there was no need for many officers and men of the Hubei Revolutionary Army to fight to the death.

Two days later, under the persuasion of fellow villagers Liu Gengyun and others, Sun Wu and Zhang Boxiang, the heads of the Communist Advancement Association, announced that they accepted the revolutionary idea of the Restoration Revolution, withdrew from the League, and joined the Restoration Society instead.

After the news of this came out, the balance that had previously seemed to be in the south was suddenly broken, and the new armies of the remaining provinces announced that they would accept the reorganization of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, and the revolutionary political axes of the provinces also recognized the ruling power of the central political axe, and the ambiguous relationship between the League and the local forces in the provinces was quickly torn apart.

By 15 September, among the 20 towns and 16 new armies of the mixed associations formed by the Qing government, except for the 17th, 19th, and 33rd mixed associations controlled by Zhao Erxun and Zhao Erfeng, the 25th and 26th towns of Liangguang, the Guangdong Mixed Formation Association, and the Guangxi Mixed Formation Association, which were controlled by special forces in other places, the rest were successively reorganized and assigned to the camp of the Chinese Revolutionary Army.

A large number of new troops joined the camp of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, which can only show that Song Biao said that the emperor was imminent, and there were not many troops willing to resist for this, and the only provinces that the provisional cabinet could really govern were the three eastern provinces, Zhili, Jin, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Fujian, and the Tiangao Emperor Yuan's Yungui, Liangguang, Sichuan, Gansu, Ning, and Xinjiang provinces, and Song Biao's only way was to continue the offensive until all were unified.

What was even more beneficial to Song Biao was that the control of the alliance and the remnants of the local forces over the New Army, the Revolutionary Army, and the Autonomous Army was not high, and the reason why these forces continued to fantasize about autonomy was simply because they were too far away and did not feel that the Northeast Army could attack all the way through.

It was under such circumstances that Song Jiaoren, another important member of the Alliance, officially organized a delegation to Tongzhou to visit Song Biao through the introduction of his young friend Wu Luzhen.

Through the letter of Wu Luzhen, the brigade commander of the Fifth Cavalry Brigade, Song Jiaoren wrote a letter to Song Biao, willing to recognize the constitutional monarchy and fully support it, on the condition that Song Biao must implement the responsible cabinet system.

After reading the letter, Song Biao agreed to meet with Song Jiaoren.

Song Biao scheduled the meeting at 4 p.m., because Song Jiaoren's train arrived at about 2 p.m., and Song Biao asked Cai Yuanpei to be in charge of the reception, first negotiating with the temporary cabinet for an hour, and then resting for a while before going to the General Headquarters of the Revolutionary Army.

As soon as Wuchang retreated and agreed to accept the imperial system and reorganization, the new armies in the rest of the provinces did not hold on, and in the past week, the situation of the Chinese Revolutionary Army and the Liberation Society was very good.

However, Song Biao did not take it lightly, and continued to add a large number of new provincial councilors in each province to prepare for the organization of the first national parliament, and the first provisional constitution of the empire was ready, as long as it could ensure that more than 2/3 of the members of the parliament were his own people, there would be no problem in passing this provisional constitution.

When Song Jiaoren had arrived in Tongzhou and the temporary cabinet political axe in front of him visited, Song Biao continued to check the list of members of the provincial councils in his office, Tao Chengzhang was directly responsible for this matter among the six vice presidents, and he usually held a position similar to the head of the organization during the activities in the provinces, and he was responsible for reporting the list of personnel to Song Biao at this time.

At present, according to Song Biao's opinion, the term of office of the members of the national parliament and the provincial parliament is five-year, and the number of provincial councillors is 50 to 80, and the number of members in remote areas can be less than 50, but in principle it must not be less than 30, and the number of congressmen is calculated according to 3 per province, and the military sends 10 deputies to attend, and each party reserves a total of 30 transfer places, with a total of no more than 150 people.

Half of the members of the Restoration Council were members of the Restoration Council, and the other half were elected by the local gentry drawn from among the Constitutionalists, the Restoration, the Squires, and the Old Councillors, and generally ensured that each province had six to ten members, and that three of them were elected as representatives of their own provinces.

The Liaison Department within the Liberation Society is responsible for this matter, and like the Secret Service Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau, the Liaison Department is also a special intelligence agency, which is directly responsible for Tao Chengzhang, which is equivalent to a large merger of the Organization Department and the Liaison Office, and together with the Propaganda Department in charge of Cai Yuanpei and Zhang Binglin's Political Discussion Department, they form the three major centers of the Liberation Society.

In these books, those marked with red mimeographs belong to the members of the Restoration Society, and the blue mimeographs belong to the ideas of the Polarized Restoration School, such as members of the Constitutionalists and the Restoration Society, as well as well-known local squires, black mimeographs belong to the members of the League and those who favor the League, and those without mimeographs belong to those who have not made a statement.

The latter two have very few people, but these are the most prominent celebrities in each province, so that they cannot be directly disqualified.

The affairs of the National Assembly are extremely important, not a hypocritical strategy to cover up their ears and steal the bell, but the source of whether the imperial political axe can really obtain a political legitimacy, so it must be done well, the intelligence bureau of the military department and the secret service bureau of the governor's office are actively busy with this matter, and for those who want to exclude the list of members who want to be excluded, they will collect evidence of illegal crimes, attack and destroy them in local newspapers, and sometimes they cannot be published in local newspapers, and they will be widely distributed by the Liberation Association to print leaflets.

For the provincial councillors selected by the Restoration Society, the Liberation Council also uniformly distributes administrative funds to support these members to engage in some active political and public welfare activities.

Because of the huge advantage of capital, Song Biao knew very well that the later the first congress of the empire was convened, the more favorable the situation would be for him.

He looked through the list of provincial legislators submitted by Tao Chengzhang, but from the information on paper, they were generally people of insight, with a good educational background and social influence, and the overall thinking was also biased towards national unity and constitutional monarchy.

After carefully reading the information books of these lists, Song Biao and Tao Chengzhang, who was sitting next to him waiting for an answer, asked, "Have you all met with these people in general?" ”

Tao Chengzhang said: "I have met with the candidate parliamentarians from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces, Wang Jiawei has met with people from Jiangxi and Hunan, Gong Baozhuan has met with people from Henan, Shandong and Shanxi, and Cai Yuanpei has met with the candidate parliamentarians from Zhili, Tianjin and Jingshi. Now the heads of the provincial branches are doing their best to deal with this matter and select the most suitable candidates one by one. The contradiction today is that revolutionaries may not have prestige, and prestige gentry may not be revolutionaries, and there are many objections from the constitutionalists and the Progressive Association to the great expansion of the list of members of the Liberation Council and other members of the Restoration Association, but they dare not say too much. ”

Song Biao thought for a while and said: "If you want them to say it, just say it in private, communicate more in private, how hard you have to work during this time, meet and talk with Zhang Jian and Liang Qichao a lot, communicate more, understand each other, now is an extraordinary time, everything is only based on national affairs." For the time being, the first councillors will continue to adopt the method of local elections, so that the comrades in the provinces of the Liberation Council should be more cautious, cautious in their words and deeds, and do more practical things, and the councillors should also be good at publicizing themselves. After the constitution is formulated, as the emperor, I should remain outside and neutral, and I will not ask you more about it, so as not to criticize you, and you must cherish and love yourself. ”

Tao Chengzhang said: "What the emperor said is that now the opportunity is rare, the country is rich and strong, and the rejuvenation of the nation is in this move, and we should be more self-reliant and self-cherishing." ”

Song Biao bowed slightly.

For example, in the theories of the Spring and Autumn Rejuvenation, national rejuvenation, cultural reform, benefiting the people and enriching the country, and free economy, it is still very attractive, especially with Zhang Binglin, a great treasure, in hand, through the Spring and Autumn Society established by Zhang Binglin, a large number of masters of Chinese culture have been recruited, and they are actively engaged in the revival of the Spring and Autumn Period, national rejuvenation and cultural improvement.

Another major weapon of the Restoration Society is Xunzi, with the main idea of "respecting the virtuous as the king, valuing the law and loving the people as the hegemon", vigorously promoting the new education and the rule of law and loving the people's national politics, which is completely more acceptable to the Chinese people and gentry at the theoretical level than the Sanming Cooking Righteousness advocated by Sun Yat-sen.

Song Biao, Cai Yuanpei and others have also talked about this matter, and generally speaking, as long as the special situation of the blind pursuit of self-government in the provinces can be fundamentally curbed, and the theoretical and propaganda wars are really waged, the Liberation Society will not suffer at all, and it has been the so-called revolutionary groups in the provinces that have vainly tried to stand on their own and self-reliant.

Now that the new army of the eighth town has been subdued, the new army and the so-called revolutionary groups in the other provinces no longer dare to be arrogant, and the advantage of the situation has completely fallen to the Guangfuhui in just one month.

Jiang Zhengyuan walked into the office at this time and whispered a few words to Song Biao.

Cai Yuanpei had already arrived in the living room.

Song Biao handed over the list to Tao Chengzhang and said: "It doesn't matter if things are done slowly, anyway, the overall situation has been decided, and now everything is stable, and every candidate must be selected several times to ensure that they are not corrupt and pervert the law, and ensure that there are people who are truly talented and willing to serve the country and the people." ”

Tao Chengzhang nodded silently.

Song Biao said: "You go to do things first, and report to me if you have any new news in the future!" ”

Tao Chengzhang got up and bowed and said goodbye.

As the founding emperor of the Chinese Empire, Song Biao's requirements in terms of etiquette are still relatively light and more humane, at least everyone does not have to bow and worship, usually bow down is the most common, even if it is kneeling, it is also arranged on the most special occasions.

Now a relatively controversial cabinet prime minister sees whether he needs to kneel when he accepts the appointment for the first time, and most of them recommend kneeling, and it is a specification like three kowtows, Song Biao has not spoken about this, and he is still considering it.

When Tao Chengzhang left, Jiang Zhengyuan and Song Biao asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to summon Mr. Song Jiaoren now?" ”

Song Biao thought about it, and felt that he was very tired after sitting for half a morning, so he stood up and stretched his arms directly, and said, "Let's go, I'll go to the living room to see him in person!" ”

After saying this, Song Biao took the saber of etiquette with him and solemnly went to the living room to meet Song Jiaoren.

At this time, Song Jiaoren was sitting in the living room drinking tea, and the person responsible for accompanying him was Cai Yuanpei, and the two had close contacts during their studies at Yueben University of Law and Politics, after that, Cai Yuanpei became one of the important founders of the Guangfuhui, and Song Jiaoren has been one of the main founders and leaders of the League in Yueben, and continued to stay in Yueben to study law.

The two have a close personal relationship, and they are both waiting for Song Biao's summons at the moment, and they are approaching and talking in the rattan sofa, whispering, probably discussing how to address the emperor when he sees him, how to talk about the key points, etc., as well as some rules for the emperor to often receive guests.

While the two were talking, Song Biao had already walked out accompanied by Jiang Zhengyuan, and when they saw him coming suddenly, Cai Yuanpei and Song Jiaoren were very surprised, and hurriedly got up, Cai Yuanpei immediately bowed, and Song Jiaoren hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward to shake hands with Song Biao.

Although it was the first time they met, Song Biao at least knew what Song Jiaoren looked like through photos and other information, and he knew that the man in a black suit in front of him was Song Jiaoren, but the other party's figure was not as tall as he imagined.

This year, Song Jiaoren was 28 years old, about the same as Zhao Tingzhu, and three years older than Song Biao.

This year is really a great era for China's young people to make the most of their talents, and it is these young people who are pushing the country forward.

Song Biao shook hands with Song Jiaoren and naturally invited him to sit down with Cai Yuanpei, while he himself sat down in a single rattan sofa.

Song Jiaoren looked very respectful, sat down and replied to Song Biao: "Since most of the provinces in the country have recognized the Chinese Empire and the current situation that you are the emperor, I think that I, as a countryman, must also temporarily admit this, Your Majesty the Emperor of the New Empire. ”

Song Biao was not embarrassed by him, and said politely: "If you feel embarrassed or something, or difficult to speak, then call me a general, or Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Vice Chairman Song." ”

Song Jiaoren thought for a moment hesitantly, and replied: "Facts are facts, and idealists should not be questioned, you are the emperor of the new empire, and since most of the provinces in the country have made this matter clear, and you are about to formally stabilize the situation in the whole country, so that the people of the whole country can regain a peaceful and hopeful life after a short period of armed revolution, I think no one can continue to question this." ”

Regarding Song Jiaoren's somewhat awkward and more serious answer, Song Biao also thought about it for a while, and then replied: "Maybe." ”

After a pause, Song Biao continued to say to Song Jiaoren: "In the Chinese Revolution that overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty, both the Guangfu Society and the League played a very important role, and it can be said that the joint efforts of the two revolutionary organizations have achieved today's success. Although there was a small-scale civil war as a result, we must understand that neither side is a bad person, it is to make the country strong, at least people like me, Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Binglin, Tao Chengzhang should not be called bad people and destroyers of the revolution, this kind of verbal attack is inappropriate and irrational, even crazy. At the same time, just as Mr. Cai Yuanpei and I have decided, the republican revolution looks beautiful and the theory is very beautiful, but in fact it does not conform to China's national conditions at all, nor does it take into account the important surnames of our traditional culture, let alone the current dispersion of military forces, as well as the complexity of the international environment, including the various military threats that China is facing and the risk of being invaded and colonized. Now, I think that the debate over the revolutionary line has come to an end for the time being, and I invite you here in the hope of persuading the League to transform into a full-fledged and qualified modern party, to participate in the building of the country, in the elections and in the operation of the cabinet axe, instead of continuing to be a secret organization that subverts the axe. ”

Song Jiaoren listened to these words in silence, and then replied: "Yes, I have come to meet you this time, and I have also come to establish our country's cabinet system and constitution. Now, one of the questions I am questioning is that the military is under the jurisdiction of the political axe, as in the Western constitutional monarchy? ”

Song Biao replied: "Not for the time being, because China's military and ordinary people, including the so-called social elites at the top, do not have such national qualities." If the army is handed over to the political axe, the result will only be the phenomenon of warlord secession as in the Warring States period, and in the end, the constitution will be destroyed and the military axe of power will come up. I think the alliance would be too naïve on this point, and almost everyone knows very well that the Northeast Army under my command can completely control the military power of the whole country, and will not divide the military forces of the provinces from each other. If China's military armament continues to be divided, it will be impossible for us to deal well with foreign aggression, and the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War is a true portrayal of this. The consensus between me and Mr. Cai Yuanpei and others is that the armed forces will first be made royal, based on loyalty to the imperial family, and gradually and steadily transition to the control of the democratically elected political axe over a period of several decades, so that it will become the real armed force of the state and the people, rather than the armed forces of individuals, families and political parties. ”

Song Jiaoren looked at Cai Yuanpei, and then replied to Song Biao: "I also think this is more stable." ”

Song Biao said: "We must see that there are some people now, even if they understand the truth, they still want to maintain their armed forces, and they would rather harm the country and the nation than benefit themselves." For example, the Zhao Erxun brothers are in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and other places, even if they are in other places, Yunnan is a place where they are fighting on all sides, facing the devouring of Britain and France, and only relying on the strength of one province to contend with it, it is simply impossible, considering the British greed for the tradition of Tibetan Province**, I must also deploy a truly most elite mountain infantry division in Tibetan Province. Zhao Erxun relied on Yunnan and Guizhou to stay away from Beijing, and united local forces to control the military and government, once this divisive trend was exploited by Britain and France, the consequences would be unimaginable, even if Britain formally asked me to recognize Tibetan Province and Yunnan Reading Power, it would be difficult for me to send troops to reinforce for a while. Tibet Province is the source of the vast majority of China's water sources, blocking foreign invasions and threats to our country from the west, this place cannot be lost, Yunnan is an important barrier from the southwest into China's inland areas, let alone lost, 10,000 steps back to say, even if it has no value, as long as it is our Chinese territory, even if there is only one inch of land, we cannot give up. I feel more and more that foreign countries are strong and greedy, and I am more and more nervous about them, and I want to recover our country and the Chinese nation as soon as possible, to rectify all my [***] forces to contend with European and American countries, and even more to fight with Russia and regain the lost territory of Taiwan and the Far East. The problem now is that some people in China know that I am capable of doing this, but they prefer not to let me do these things for their own personal gain. ”

Cai Yuanpei couldn't help but sigh: "Your Majesty, the country is in trouble, and there are thieves at home and abroad, it is really miserable, and now we can only forcibly attack, and end the current chaos with forcible violence. ”

Song Jiaoren could only reply: "Your Majesty and Mr. Cai are very right, and I also deeply regret and apologize for this, because of the entanglement and the struggle for the recovery of the republic, the current split situation in some parts of the region is also caused by our alliance." ”

Song Biao said: "Let him go in the past, fortunately, my colleagues and I have been very well prepared in the past five years, and we are now able to maintain the unity of the whole country." Now, I hope that on the basis of recognizing national unity and constitutional monarchy, the League will establish a new political party, participate in the administrative work of the local government and the central government, and gather the strength of the revolutionary aspirants of the whole country to jointly build a new China. If the League can do this, and win the elections in Liangguang, then it is entirely possible to continue to organize local governments in Liangguang in accordance with the constitution, provided that the army is under the reorganization and jurisdiction of the Central Army, and I will not continue to march from Hunan to Liangguang. Such a situation is best for both of us, because I can free up troops from Hanzhong to enter Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, send cavalry to Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, and reserve a part of the army in Inner and Outer Mongolia to prevent the Outer [***] from standing. ”

Speaking of this, he added: "You all think that I am supported by Tsarist Russia, which is probably one of the main reasons against me, in fact, our Northeast Army is extremely defensive against Tsarist Russia, and now, Russia has been secretly supporting the foreign [***] Li, I just negotiated this matter with the Russian Minister of War a few days ago, if the foreign [***] stand, I must send troops deep into the desert." If at this time, the alliance will continue to sabotage me in the south, then I will probably lose all my efforts, and Outer Mongolia will also read my strength, and the country will be in chaos. Therefore, the alliance really can't toss anymore, and does not hesitate to play the role of a-stirring stick in order to seize power, and it used to work hard for China's prosperity and strength, but now it continues to toss, that is, it is purely sabotage for the sake of seizing power. ”

Song Jiaoren nodded and admitted, "What you said is extremely true, and I feel the same way now." The internal party power and local power of the League are extremely large, especially after the recent expansion of the association, and the membership is complex. At this moment, we can no longer allow careerists to undermine the stability and unity of the country for their own purposes, which is why I have asked to meet with you to discuss national policy. ”

Song Biao knew who Song Jiaoren was referring to.

The contradictions between Soong and Koh already existed after the establishment of the League, and he was one of the main participants in the two waves of rebellion between 1907 and 1909, and he once said within the League, "With such a careerist as the leader, it is impossible for the Chinese revolution to achieve its goal."

Song Biao is not disgusted and critical of Mr. Sun, but everyone has shortcomings, and Mr. Sun's shortcomings are indeed that he pursues his idealized goals too much and ignores the cruelty of reality and the various complex situations and threats facing China.

Ideals are a good thing, and ideals that are too high are a bad thing.

Song Biao did not comment on the matter, he just suggested to Song Jiaoren: "Establish a political party as soon as possible, advocate a new modern political party system, replace individuals with a party system, and openly promote China's development with the party constitution and the party's collective political philosophy." It is obviously contradictory that we want to carry out the Liberation Revolution and that you want to carry out the Republican Revolution, but if you carry out the Ming Boiled Revolution, I think it is not a contradiction. Of course, the biggest problem now is how to implement the Ming Cook to the people, I have always felt that an election with a population of tens of millions in a province, only a few thousand people vote for the election, and at least 1/4 of the 40,000 citizens participate in the vote, which can barely be regarded as a real Ming Cook. The so-called open cooking, I think it means that the people are the masters of the country. Therefore, it is necessary for us to conduct in-depth discussions on this issue, find a suitable and reasonable countermeasure, and spend 10 or 20 years to educate the people, participate in the decision-making, participate in the governance of the country, and gradually expand the electoral votes, from 10,000 in each province, to tens of thousands, and then to several million, and finally to all the people in the province. ”

Hearing this, Song Jiaoren couldn't help but agree: "It's really good that you have such an idea, I have always been troubled by this, even in this book, the Ming Cook we see is very poor compared to the West, but at least it is the first step of the Ming Cooking." If an emperor like you were the source of revolutionary aspirants behind him, I think China's advance would be unstoppable. ”

Song Biao thought for a while and replied heavily: "Talk less nonsense and do more practical things." We always think that things are too simple, China is so big, and if we want to govern it well, I am afraid that it is the most difficult thing in the world, not to mention that we have so many shortcomings and such heavy historical debts. ”

"yes!"

Regarding what Song Biao said, Song Jiaoren also had to admit it.

Song Biao thought of a path designed by Sun Yat-sen, that is, the road of "military administration, training government, and constitutional government", this design seems to be good, the key is the complex surname of the rule of man itself, and the road of military administration is precisely one of the source problems of local warlord separation.

(To be continued)