After the outbreak of the Guangdong crisis, Morrison, the chief correspondent of The Times in China, was commissioned by the British Consulate in China to come to southern Guangdong and carefully observe the political and military situation in southern Guangdong with the eyes of a politician and newspaper man. During the warmer season, Morrison wrote a detailed report to Minister Juerdian.

"With Zhou Yi leading the main force of the Tenth Town into Guangxi, the Guangxi incident has completely subsided. Although there were rumors of the atrocities of Feng Lun, the general of the Tenth Town, who killed prisoners, hundreds (some say as many as 1,000) of the captives were shot en masse. When the news came out, there was an uproar in Liangguang. The press in Canton was all concerned about this matter for a time, and the 10th Town was unanimously criticized by the press, and the matter had already affected General Long Qian, and it was generally believed that Long Qian still had actual control over the 10th Town, and it seemed that he should be responsible for the incident, but so far there has been no news of the 10th Town's handling of the matter. The Qing court, which was eager to quell the rebellious party, would not pursue it. It is rumored that Huang Xing has once again miraculously escaped from the Qing army, escaped from Guangxi and fled into French-controlled Vietnam, but there is no definite news yet.

"Guangdong is still calm. At the beginning of April, the imperial court reopened the old case of Zhaoqing Mansion and dismissed Long Qian as the governor of the Guangdong land route, which did not cause waves. This move was obviously to pave the way for General Fengshan to completely control the local troops in Guangdong. Feng Shan, who was familiar with military affairs, was obviously more accomplished than his predecessor, and after he came to Guangzhou, he devoted a lot of energy to reorganizing the patrol battalion, and it is said that he had applied to the War Department to give Guangdong the name of a new military town. In this way, Long Qian's weakened Fifth Town may soon be transferred out of Guangdong. Just a week earlier, Fengshan had ordered Long Qian's troops stationed in Guangzhou to withdraw from Guangzhou and take over the defense of Zhou Yi's 10th Town in western Guangdong. For this. Zhou Fu, the governor of Liangguang, had an unhappy encounter with Fengshan, and Zhou Fu was apparently worried about Long Qian's revolt, as the economy of western Guangdong was more backward than that of eastern Guangdong. But Long Qian happily accepted the order, of course, on the condition that he left a battalion of troops in Canton, supposedly to protect his industries—munitions factories, clothing factories, and newly built rubber factories. In this regard, General Fengshan obviously compromised.

Long Qian's retreat indicated that the situation in Guangdong would be completely calmed down. This young powerful military leader, who had caused great unease in the imperial court, chose to cooperate with the imperial court, but he was wrong, and he did not belong to the generals trusted by the imperial court. His status can no longer be compared with Yuan Shikai.

But Long Qian is popular again. Before he left Guangzhou with the Fifth Town Headquarters, I got a ticket to the reception from the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and saw with my own eyes for the first time this famous general in southern Guangdong because of the hot industrial and business circles in Guangzhou for several months because of the hot industry and business circles in the fifth town. He has a robust physique and a good upbringing that are rare in Chinese. Speak English with an American accent. I had a conversation for about five minutes, and then was called away by the abominable German and foreign merchants, who seemed to have more important business to discuss.

Long Qian was indeed the first Chinese military general to pay attention to industrial construction. In the only year he had been in Canton, he had already set up three munitions factories with the help of the Germans and Americans, two factories for the production of shells and bullets, all kinds of supporting facilities, and a repair shop for the repair of guns and artillery. In addition, he also brought in bank funds to invest in the construction of a coal-fired power plant, and acquired shares in the local steel plant and achieved control. As for the quilts, rubber, etc., it is even less worth mentioning.

It is worth mentioning that a rare air show was held in Guangzhou at the end of last month. There were three planes in total, all of which were shipped back from the United States and assembled in Guangzhou. The location was in the large playground built in the Fifth Town, where they usually used to review the army. Behind this incident is the general who was deliberately suppressed, and it is said that he sent someone to contact the American side. Now a flying team has been established, the captain is named Feng Ru, a native of Guangdong, 24 years old this year, settled in the United States with his father when he was a child, loves aviation, last year set up an aircraft company in Orlando, east of San Francisco, he returned to Guangzhou last winter, and there were more than a dozen people who came back with him, half of them are Americans, and they have been living in the barracks of the fifth town, and they are under strict protection. Now the young Mr. Feng has set up the Fengru Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Guangzhou, with an investment of about 200,000 US dollars, and the construction of the factory has begun.

The air show caused a sensation in Guangzhou, and the governor of Liangguang personally went to the scene to watch it, and talked with General Long Qian for a long time. But General Fengshan did not show up, probably the stubborn old general was busy with the formation of his new army.

Let's report on military-political issues, this is what you are most concerned about. The situation in China has changed since the Empress Dowager Cixi issued a decree last December asking the Minister of the Constitutional Archives and the Minister of Civil Affairs to draw up a law on freedom of speech and association for her country with reference to the laws of the constitutional state. You must know that freedom of speech and freedom of association previously meant rebellion, which was a great sin that the imperial court could never condon! That's amazing progress. The revelation of this intention set off a craze in Guangzhou, and the circulation of the newspaper increased by 30% in three months. Political parties also emerged, most notably an organization called the 'League of Science and Democracy,' whose founder was Mr. Hong Yuecheng, a well-known figure in the Guangzhou press, who had always been known for his incisive commentaries and had extensive influence in the Guangzhou intellectual circles. For this reason, I interviewed this peculiar-looking man, who had traveled to major European countries, and said that his organization already had the main characteristics of a Western political party, with a clear program and a well-organized organization, which was worthy of attention. According to the Alliance for Scientific Democracy, the main reasons for China's backwardness and defeat are the obscurity of science and political dictatorship, so the way to revive this ancient Eastern power is to popularize science and promote democracy. In this regard, I had two long conversations with the venerable and erudite Mr. Hong, a radical, but sane figure who admitted that the foundation of science and democracy in China was still zero, and that everything had to start from scratch. First of all, it is necessary to popularize compulsory education and improve the law, so as to cultivate the civic consciousness of the Chinese. This cannot but surprise me, as it seems that China is not without people with a sense of democracy, but it has died under the pressure of the government.

Mr. Hong is a strong admirer of the compulsory education that has been effective in Shandong Province. It is an indisputable fact that I have given you a detailed account of Shandong's remarkable achievements in universal education. However, in terms of improving the modern legal system, Shandong has not done much substantive work. This Mr. Hong thinks. There must be a two-pronged approach to change China. Of course, he has not forgotten industrial construction, but he believes that China has no hope without transforming China ideologically and cultivating Chinese who only focus on individual education to become modern people with national social awareness.

At present, the scientific democratic alliance of Mr. Hong, which is chaired by Mr. Hong, has several hundred members, who have organized chapters and activities according to their geographical areas, and they already have an in-house newspaper, called the CDU. However, it has not yet been publicly released. Oh. I almost forgot that almost all the members of Mr. Hong's political party were from the business community in Guangzhou, and they were considered upper-class people. These people have a good education and upbringing. I think that if the Chinese party ban is opened. The LDK is a party with great promises. Particular attention should be paid to it.

The situation seems to continue to turn in a favourable direction. Last month. In Guangzhou, I saw a profound 'edict' from the elderly ruler of the Manchu court on the implementation of a long period of work on freedom of speech and association in accordance with her instructions. It is a formal opening of the door to freedom of expression and association. It is strange that the Chinese intellectuals, who should have cheered enthusiastically, responded with silence. Mr. Zhang Taiyan, a well-known anti-Qing person, published the "Pai Manping Discussion" in the "Minbao". Mr. Zhang first devised a quirky question on his own, and then he asked and answered it himself. The problem is, some say that the ancestors of the Han people came from the West and defeated the indigenous Miao people to become the masters of China. Therefore, should the Han people who advocate the full row should consider that for the Miao people, it seems that the Han people should also be excluded. No matter how absurd this question is, it is inconceivable that this Mr. Zhang actually found evidence that the Han people came to China before the Miao people, and also proved that the legendary victory of the Yellow Emperor over Chiyou was by no means a tribal melee, but a recovery of historical significance! And to prove that the expulsion of the Manchus by the Han people is a righteous act of course, and it is an anti-aggression! Such strange remarks are published in a grand manner, which shows how free the Qing Empire is at present!

There is reason to believe that China will move towards the path of a constitutional monarchy. Following the establishment of a local council advisory bureau in Jiangsu and Zhejiang at the beginning of the year, Guangdong is also preparing for the establishment of an advisory bureau, and it is the CDL led by Mr. Hong Yuecheng who is promoting this matter. There was no opposition from the government at the moment, at least not from the Governor's Palace, and General Long Qian, who had already left Canton, was said to have praised the matter with great enthusiasm and sponsored 100,000 silver dollars for it. As local people with economic power and political influence enter the Advisory Council, they will inevitably pursue their interests politically, thus promoting the process of constitutional monarchy.

Finally, let's talk about the military. Because of the creation of the new army and the fact that the Manchu center did not control these forces beyond the combat power of the old army, the Manchu constitutional monarchy seemed to be the only option. Otherwise, there is a danger of revolution. Following the establishment of the Ninth Town in Jiangsu, the Eighth Town in Hubei, the Eighteenth and Twentieth Towns outside the Guan, and now a Tenth Town separated from the Fifth Town, together with the troops that General Fengshan had vigorously prepared and the de facto existence of the New Army in Shandong, China already had a new army of thirteen divisions. Perhaps more new divisions will be established in the future. However, looking at its origins, there are only four divisions under the control of the central government, the 1st, 10th, 18th, and the Guangdong Army, which has not yet been established. There were five divisions belonging to the Beiyang system, the second, third, fourth, sixth, and twentieth (there is reliable information that the twenty towns stationed in Fengtian were actually inclined to Beiyang), the eighth and ninth towns were more like local troops, and the other was the Shandong Army and the weakened but vigorously replenished Fifth Town, which was obviously under the control of Long Qian. Perhaps he still retains influence over the Tenth Town. In this way, the military power that the Manchu government center could rely on was in fact very limited. Our old friend, who has left the command of the Beiyang Army but still retains his influence, should be our primary concern if he can continue to control the Beiyang Army.

The second is General Long Qian. He should be second. He had a well-equipped and well-trained Fifth Division in his hands, and he still maintained sufficient influence over Shandong. It is said that General Liangbi did not achieve control over the military and political affairs of Shandong after becoming the governor of Shandong, and the contradictions there were fierce. The situation here has stabilized, there is no major news, the only change is that General Fengshan is reorganizing the patrol battalion, and now there are three forces competing, the Manchu government represented by Fengshan, and the Beiyang officers who have been transferred from Beiyang to help Fengshan reorganize the patrol battalion - they do not seem to be satisfied with Fengshan. The last is Long Qian's infiltration of the local troops in Guangdong and the control of the local authorities in Guangdong - a large number of junior officers and sergeants are still in the patrol battalion as instructors, and their military expenses basically come from the localities. Therefore, it seems inappropriate to include the Cantonese troops in the name of the Manchu government, and even if it is classified as a new army division, its position is intriguing.

It is said that the two supreme rulers of Beijing are not in good health, and perhaps their lives have been counted down. The change would take place after the death of the supreme ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was a doomed end. China's history has long proved that this ancient country has never relied on law and public opinion, they believe in strength, and whoever has more power can become the supreme ruler. Therefore, in order to ensure the interests of the British Empire in China and even in the Far East, it is necessary to intensify efforts to cultivate a spokesman, who must be an old friend of Beijing, because the political position of the military leader of the man is more biased towards Germany and the United States......"

Morrison was not a member of the British Legation in China, and his good personal relationship with Minister Jurden allowed him to speak freely. At the end of the letter, Morrison spoke of Sun Wen's revolutionary party, "The forces represented by Sun Huang that advocated the overthrow of the Manchus by force suffered successive defeats and heavy losses. Long Qianjun's purge of Guangdong caused Sun Huang to rely on the power of the Hui Party to be dealt an unprecedented blow. According to data provided by Guangdong officials, more than 400 people have been arrested and six underground organizations have been banned in the past year. With the strength of the local security regiment, Sun Huang's hope in Guangdong has been slimmed. This indirectly hit the Japanese, who were very angry about it. It can be concluded that there is indeed a shadow of the Japanese behind the Guangzhou incident that occurred last year. I estimate that Sun Wen will disappear for a long time, but his influence is still there, and in Guangzhou, there are still people sympathizing with Sun Wen's revolutionary party, but there are fewer and fewer people...... It's really exciting to see what the future holds. (To be continued......)

PS: This chapter is finally finished, and the curtain will open on the next chapter of armed opposition to the Qing Dynasty.