On October 2, the headquarters of the Mengshan Army was stationed in Wuchang. The headquarters was located in the former Governor's Palace.

Long Qian didn't care about the fatigue of the saddle horse, and as soon as he arrived in Wuchang, he immediately listened to the report of the General Staff Headquarters on the situation in the southeast that had arrived in advance.

"The Third Division, which has jurisdiction over two brigades, has gone down to Nanchang." Situ Jun used a skinned wicker stick to point to the huge map hanging on the wall, this map is the latest map of the whole country produced by the General Staff Department, "According to the instructions of the General Staff Headquarters, the Third Division has turned to the east, and its main force, the Eighth Brigade, under the leadership of Chief of Staff Hu Zongyu, has occupied Raozhou, and the target is Jiangshan Mansion in Zhejiang. The Independent Brigade entered Yingtan, and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Wang moved with the Independent Brigade and was advancing in the direction of Lu Shangrao. Part of the new army in Jiangxi has fled, and some have openly cooperated with our army, and Jiangxi has been basically pacified......"

"Uh-huh," Long Qian stared at the map, thinking something.

The Third Division was a bit special, the division in the Southern Army's initial formation was the weakest, and its earliest main brigade, the Seventh Brigade, was transferred to the Lianghu Battlefield by the General Headquarters in advance, but it did not play a greater role, but only acted as a blade in the attack on Wuchang, which can be regarded as a small stroke on the credit book of the Third Division. The use of the 7th Brigade exposed the misjudgment of the headquarters on the situation in Hunan, which originally thought that a bloody battle would break out in Hunan. But along the way, they were all met with the uprising of the New Army. The brigade is currently in Wuchang, and the Ninth Brigade, which was reorganized from the former Eighth Town Uprising Force, is a unit of the Third Division in terms of organization, but it is directly under the command of the General Headquarters and is still in Nanchang for training. The Independent Brigade is the temporary number given by the headquarters to the newly formed troops of Wang Mingyuan's Third Division, and it is all Guangdong soldiers. Basically, they were all reorganized from the Guangdong patrol battalion. Long Qian was worried about the quality of the independent brigade that rushed to the army, but according to Wang Mingyuan's report, the independent brigade has performed very well since it left the division.

"On the North Road, the 1st Division has occupied Jiujiang. Their attack on Tianjia Town did not achieve the expected goal, but it was not their responsibility - the 1st Brigade was worthy of the elite, 36 hours ahead of the scheduled date. Because Wuchang mutiny again, Huang Xing's second division had collapsed, and this move lost its power. However, it was still too late for Commander Feng to enter and occupy Jiujiang, and the naval fleet led by Huang Zhongying was rebelled by an alliance called Lin Sen. The fleet withdrew to Jiangning. It was reported by the 1st Division. The troops were divided into two routes, and the 1st Brigade attacked and advanced along the south bank of the Yangtze River, aiming at Anqing. The Second Brigade headed east from Jiujiang and from Qimen and Xiuning to Huizhou. The judgment of the 1st Division and the General Staff is consistent. At present, there are no brigade or above units in the occupied areas of Jiangsu and Shanghai. So there is no danger in dividing the troops. After the two roads occupied Anqing and Huizhou respectively. The 2nd Brigade turned northward, taking Ning Guo as the first step, and then continuing north. Rendezvous with the 1st Brigade in Wuhu and make preparations for the capture of Jiangning......"

"For what division of troops? The occupation of Huizhou by the 2nd Brigade was not of great military significance, and the detour was too long, and if the Nationalist Army could not form a strong resistance to the 1st Brigade, they would not be able to join the 1st Brigade in Wuhu on time. What does the General Staff think about this? ”

"The first is food, and the second is roads. The third is speed. The Republic of China must not be given time to straighten out its army. According to a telegram from Division Commander Feng, they have not been able to recruit enough ships - they have all been taken away by the navy. The two brigades were crowded on the south bank of the Yangtze River, which delayed the trip. Therefore, it is appropriate to divide the troops. After the 2nd Brigade occupied Ningguo, according to the situation, it had a reserve plan to rush to Hangzhou to the east, so as to coordinate the 3rd Division's advance to Zhejiang. The General Staff considered that the first step in resolving the southeastern issue should be to resolve Jiangxi and Anhui, and the second step should be to capture Zhejiang, isolate Fujian, and force it to surrender on its own initiative. After the most reluctant, he tried to conspire with Jiangsu. ”

"Well, but the problem of insufficient forces in the southeast has been exposed." Long Qian affirmed Situ Jun's strategic plan, he stood up and walked to the map, "It's time to increase the number of troops." The 7th Brigade was basically intact, and immediately returned to the 1st Division, collected ships as much as possible in Wuchang, and brought military resources to chase down the river! The Third Brigade will not enter Sichuan for the time being, and this brigade will be left in Wuchang. The Sixth Division immediately moved south - the northern problem had been solved, and the Sixth Division had rested long enough, so it was necessary to use it, let the Sixth Division go out of Lunan and occupy Xuzhou-Pixian, and then attack Lianghuai, surrender or annihilate Zhang Xun's troops. This force still declares allegiance to the Qing court, so destroy it. Seize the Lianghuai salt field, and then attack Zhenjiang, threatening Jiangning from the east. ”

The Shandong Army also had this suggestion. I just received a telegram, which was jointly signed by Ning and Ye. ”

"Then do it. Kill chickens with a knife! Use the Sixth Division that won the Texas Victory! Long Qian slapped the map, "In the main direction, there will never be a surplus of troops. ”

"What about the chain of command?" The southeast battlefield suddenly concentrated three division commanders, and the status of Ye Yanbing and Feng Guozhu was not much lower than Wang Mingyuan.

"Before the 6th Division captured Zhenjiang, it was under the command of the headquarters. After capturing Zhenjiang, it was under the command of Wang Mingyuan. The headquarters is not remote. Long Qian muttered, "Please come to Qiu Jin, she needs to follow the Seventh Brigade eastward." Her arrival in the southeast will play a major role in resolving the Zhejiang issue. Especially after Tao Chengzhang died in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Sun Wen will not be estranged, and they must make full use of this. I personally assigned her tasks. ”

Qiu Jin lived in the former Huguang Governor's Mansion with the General Political Department, and soon came over.

"Sister Qiu, you have seen the situation so far, and the responsibility is not on me. They are too bullying. Treat the Mengshan Army as nothing? ”

Qiu Jin was extremely conflicted, although Tao Chengzhang's assassination made her extremely disappointed and angry, she still didn't want to see the bloody battle between the Mengshan Army and the Alliance, "I heard that Song Duchu Tan Shiping has fallen into your hands?" ”

"I guess Mr. Tan and Song left it on purpose. This is not to see the wind and change the rudder, but to understand the current affairs and take the overall situation into account. I immediately visited them and wanted them to be part of the actual work. Mr. Shi Ping is a native of Hunan and has prestige in the local area, so he can consider inviting him back to Hunan. Mr. Tan Chu is a strong advocate of the establishment of a republic, and I hope that he will stay in the center and be my assistant in government affairs......"

"You want Tan Shiping to govern Hunan?"

"Isn't it appropriate?"

"No, it's not." Qiu Jin's depression in the past few days has been eliminated a lot, "It's very suitable." Why do you want to consult with me? ”

"Brainstorming. You are already a senior leader of the Mengshan Army, and you have all kinds of connections with the people of the Sun family, Sister Qiu. I am the first army and then the people, the first and third divisions are on the eastward expedition, in order to ensure victory, it has been decided to transfer the seventh brigade to the east, I want to ask you to go east to Jiangning with the seventh brigade, do you understand what I mean? ”

"I understand, but I'm afraid it's useless." On the way north from Changsha to Wuchang, Qiu Jin had a deep talk with Long Qian twice, and was deeply moved by Long Qian's various worries about the great cause of the founding of the country. In the face of the decisive military victory of the Mengshan army, Long Qian still kept a cool head. It is difficult to conceive of political, economic, diplomatic, financial and personnel issues. The arrogance of the senior officers as a result of the national victory was fully estimated. In Qiu Jin's opinion, this is the greatness of Long Qian. She has known Long Qian for a long time, and evaluates him as a person, except for an unidentified Xu Si. Qiu Jin couldn't say anything about Long Qian's obvious shortcomings. As the commander of the Mengshan Army. Qiu Jin felt that Long Qian was too bitter, and there was nothing special about food and clothing, for the officers and soldiers below. has always been kind and amiable, never domineering, but to senior officers, sometimes see Long Qian's dissatisfaction and even anger, in Qiu Jin's opinion, this is the most difficult and valuable.

"I repeat. With regard to the various political forces in the country, I still adopt a tolerant attitude and do not discriminate. Even if you are an enemy today, as long as you lay down your arms, you can't be friends. Mr. Sun Wen has devoted himself to the anti-Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, and he has worked hard, and I admire him very much. However, the future central government will be a government with the Mengshan Army as the main body, and this cannot be changed. However, I will not be able to find out exactly what is going on, and I will certainly recruit the best people from all parties and factions to build our new country together. If you have the opportunity to tell Sun Wen and the southeastern monarchs, I still welcome them to stand up, militarily they will not have any hope, let alone think of using the power of foreign countries, the affairs of the Chinese, we Chinese do it ourselves. Don't accidentally do something that undermines the sovereignty of the country, in that case, I will not understand, and history will not understand. ”

"Okay, I'll go."

"Thank you, big sister. The Seventh Brigade is estimated to be dispatched the day after tomorrow at the earliest, and there is still time, so you can rest and prepare. If you're okay, let's go see how Tan Shiping and Song Yuchu are? They lived in the former Eighth Town Headquarters, not far from here. ”

Qiu Jin was actually not familiar with Song and Tan, but he still happily went to the big mansion next door to the Governor's Mansion with Long Qian, which has now become a temporary detention center for high-ranking figures of the People's Army captured in the Battle of Wuchang.

Long Qian called Ouyang Zhong and called Hong Yuecheng and Wang Zhifeng to go together. Long Qian had already seen Hong Yuecheng after arriving in Wuchang, and he was very relieved, after all, people had walked around the death line. But it seems to be okay, at least not frustrated.

"Mr. Dull Chu, Mr. Shi Ping, and the contemptible Long Qian, I have seen two gentlemen." Long Qian entered the house where Tan Song was under house arrest and gave a standard Mengshan military salute to the two people who were talking.

"Ah, ah, don't dare, don't dare." Tan Song and the others hurriedly got up and returned the salute, they already knew that Long Qian was stationed in Wuchang, and they were worried about their choice, they didn't expect Long Qian to come to see them so soon. For this "big man" who doesn't know how many times a day, Tan Song couldn't help but take a few more looks. If it weren't for Long Qian to introduce himself, the tall and dark-faced man in front of him would not be able to connect with the imaginary commander of the Mengshan Army, and now the de facto first person in Shenzhou, and feel that this person is at most a fierce general who charges into battle, and seriously lacks the elegance that the commander of the first army should have.

"Please sit down, you haven't been wronged in the past few days, have you? If my subordinates are negligent or rude, I apologize to them on their behalf. Long Qian dragged the chair and sat down, and made a gesture to Qiu Jin and the others to sit down.

"Ah, no, no." Tan and Song's identities are prisoners, but they are just under house arrest, and they can't talk about slackness, at least they have no food and drink, and there is no physical or verbal abuse. They are the "key criminals" personally managed by Wang Zhifeng, and the soldiers guarding them are all selected.

"This is Ms. Qiu Jin, everyone must know each other?"

Seeing Hong Yuecheng, Tan and Song were a little embarrassed, but they turned their attention to Qiu Jin together, "Ah, Jianhu Woman, fortunately, fortunately." Both of them knew that Qiu Jin was rescued by Long Qian and joined the Mengshan Army.

"Qiu Jin has seen two gentlemen." Qiu Jin clenched his fists proudly.

"Hong Nanshao (Hong Yuecheng character Nanshao) is your old friend. I thank both of you on his behalf. Let's sit down and talk. Zhifeng, you first report the situation to Mr. Tan and Mr. Song. ”

"Yes." Wang Zhifeng sorted out the clue and briefly explained the overall deployment and progress of the Mengshan Army's march to the southeast.

The situation has been estimated, and Tan Song has no hope for the southeast. But I listened to Wang Zhifeng's deployment of the Mengshan Army to march to the southeast. Tan Song still couldn't help but look gloomy.

Long Qian said, "Sun Wen ignored the role played by the Mengshan Army in overthrowing the corrupt rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and ignored the righteous call of the Mengshan Army to 'survey and telegraph', brazenly established the so-called Republic of China, and completely abandoned the Mengshan Army from the outside, which I cannot tolerate, and I am even more resentful of hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Mengshan Army!" Advancing to the southeast was a last resort. The future republican government must be dominated by the Mengshan army. Whoever is not convinced, then see the real chapter on the battlefield. ”

Tan Renfeng and Song Jiaoren couldn't help but sigh. What Long Qian said just now. Domineering revealed. But it's also true. In today's world, whoever has a hard fist has the final say. The scene of Lin Shuqing sending troops south in high spirits was like yesterday, and the team that could not be seen at the beginning disappeared in an instant.

"There's no need to sigh." Long Qian changed his tone, "Didn't we sit together in the end?" I think the two of you have a chance to escape from Wuchang. But the two were reluctant to leave and stayed. This shows that the two of you still have hope for me Long Qian. Think that there is a common language between us. on this. Long is deeply grateful. Therefore, the two were not prisoners of war, but distinguished guests of the Mengshan Army. On the other hand. The exploits of the two who dedicated themselves to the great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty are not only admired by Long, but also remembered by history. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Long, for seeing it that way." Song Jiaoren said softly. Long Qian affirmed their credit for opposing the Qing Dynasty, and felt much more comfortable.

"Of course you have to look at it that way. Everything that used to be is gone. Now we have to face how to build our own country. Long has a basic view: In the current situation, as long as we are willing to fight for the rejuvenation of the motherland, which is full of disasters and difficulties, we are my comrades and good friends of Mengshan Army. The Manchu Qing Dynasty had abdicated, and the Provisional Central Committee of the Republic of China, which Mr. Sun Wen had established in Shanghai, could not represent the interests of the broad strata of China. Therefore, I sincerely welcome you two to stay, not as friends, but as comrades, and we will work together to build a democratic, civilized, and progressive new China. I don't know what the two of you think? ”

Hong Yuecheng was a little uncomfortable. Although he knew that surrender and rebellion were necessary for any founding king. Qiu Jin was satisfied with Long Qian's attitude, and she hoped that Long Qian would be able to accommodate the League in the new government.

"I want to ask for advice in person, and I have indeed heard some rumors," Song Jiaoren asked, "Is the new China that Mr. Long wants to establish a republic?" ”

"That's right. A republic is the trend of the times. Long will never turn back the clock on history for his own selfishness. But the republic is not the goal, it is our goal to build our motherland into a great country that is strong, not bullied by foreign powers, where the people live and work in peace and contentment, and where the government is harmonious. Long Qian paused slightly, "I have asked Ms. Qiu Jin to go to the southeast on my behalf, and once again urge the princes of the southeast to recognize the situation, stop the war as soon as possible, and build our new country together." ”

Song and Tan glanced at each other and did not say anything.

"As for the two of you, I have expressed my wish to stay and discuss the formation of our own state power together."

Tan and Song did not take advantage of the chaos to get out, and they were already disappointed in Sun Huang's career, and Long Qian's previous series of performances in sending Hong Yuecheng to negotiate were also important reasons for the two to stay in Wuchang. But Long Qian personally said the intention of soliciting, but the two of them became cautious, they were also well-known, and they didn't want to take another wrong step.

"Thank you, Mr. Long, for your attention. However, I would like to ask Mr. Long, what kind of country are you going to build? What is the form of her regime? Song Jiaoren couldn't wait to ask.

"Mr. Duchu's question is very meaningful." Long Qian smiled, "Maybe you don't believe it, this is the first time I've talked about it. If you don't believe me, you can ask Mr. Nan Shao and Ms. Qiu. ”

Hong Yuecheng glanced at Long Qian, when the two met for the first time, they somewhat involved the political vision of the future, but the conversation did not have time to go deeper. Later, it was not that Long Qian did not trust him, but that there were too many things, and Long Qian concentrated on the Qing court's offensive against the division and disintegration of the Mengshan army, while he devoted all his energy to the formation of a political party. Now that Song Jiaoren asked what kind of country Long Qian was going to establish, Hong Yuecheng couldn't help but focus his attention and listen to Long Qian's answer.

"Mr. Yu Chu, Mr. Shi Ping, the country in my mind is a country with political democracy, people's livelihood and happiness, diplomatic independence, and strong national defense, a country with a fair and just system, and a country with a legal system. In this country, the people need to be civic. They must understand their rights and responsibilities, and officials must accept the supervision of the people. The law must be perfected and the judiciary must be independent. No one, including me, can have absolute power that is not supervised. If I become president, the people will know what kind of house I live in, how much salary I receive, and what kind of power I have, and they will supervise whether I am a president who has violated discipline through Congress. The feudal monarchy that we have practiced for thousands of years can no longer continue! There is no savior. There are no saints. The people of the whole country, as long as they have citizenship, theoretically have equal political rights. The government I wish to establish is free from unsupervised individuals. There is no unsupervised power. But it can't be turned into a vegetable market. Bargain for everything, mess up and have no authority. When I say this, are you satisfied? ”

Of course, Song Jiaoren was satisfied. Long Qian's illogical narrative reveals several important messages: Congress. President, independence of the judiciary, citizenship. Undoubtedly, this is completely in line with Song Jiaoren's political ideals. But to Hong Yuecheng's ears, it is a little too idealistic. Since he met Long Qian, he felt that Long Qian's idealized things were not strong, and many things were handled more tactfully and pragmatically, and even had a bit of a scheming flavor. In dealing with the Guangdong issue and the factional disputes within the Mengshan Army, Long Qian had a heroic temperament, but that was a necessary quality for political and military leaders to win the world, and a saint full of benevolence, righteousness and morality could only be worshipped and could not solve any problems.

"Taught." Song Jiaoren stood up and bowed to Long Qian, "If Mr. Long works in this direction, Song is willing to follow." ”

"Wait. What I am talking about is a beautiful ideal. But I also know that our current situation is still far from this ideal. Let's talk about civic consciousness, I don't think many people understand the difference between citizens and obedient people. Our social reality is that either we should be officials who govern the people, or we should be obedient people who are managed by officials. However, there is a lack of self-management and citizens who consciously care about the country's own fulfillment of civic obligations, let alone the ability. I think that our current situation is that we hate all the unreasonable status quo, and when we have the ability to change the status quo, we forget our own difficulties in the lower classes. The state is not the emperor's, nor the ministers and nobles, but each of us. But what about the status quo? The common people did not know what to do to obey the rules and disciplines, what to pay taxes for, and the soldiers did not know why they were fighting and why they were bleeding and sacrificed, and the performance of the officials was even worse...... In a country with an illiteracy rate of 90 percent, the implementation of democracy is a long and difficult process, and monarchy and theocracy are the two major obstacles that limit civil rights, which must be broken down humane and scientific. I have heard that Mr. Sun once had a three-step idea of military administration, discipline administration, and constitutional government, and I think it is very reasonable. It will take a long time to establish a strong central government to take over the mess left to us by the Manchus and eliminate the de facto independence that has been formed everywhere. Otherwise, the advanced political system has not been established, and the old system has been shattered. Therefore, some people say that democracy is ownerlessness, and republic is discord. This must be avoided. As you know, a bad government is better than no government. Therefore, I am prepared to impose martial law, first for a period of time, to truly unify the country, and then to hold some form of elections to form a formal government when the conditions are basically met. Of course, this period is as short as possible. Now, we have to start to study the country's political power system and the spirit of the Constitution. How can we raise the cultural level of the people as soon as possible, and how can we enact and popularize laws? How can officials at all levels be supervised? How to form a local assembly or even a national parliament? These things are all crucial. At the same time, I also believe that the design and implementation of an advanced top-level political system should not be relaxed or slowed down just because the country's foundation is poor, and the two should be improved at the same time. ”

"So, Commander, where are you going to start?" The person who questioned him was Hong Yuecheng. He became interested in Long Qian's exposition in the second paragraph, and believed that Long Qian summed up that monarchy and divine power are the two major shackles on the people.

"Originally, I was going to use Wuchang as the headquarters of the highest authority, but now the situation requires me to go to Beijing first. The high-level leaders of the Shandong and northern armies jointly agreed on some important matters, such as who would be responsible for the formation of the government, who would be responsible for the formulation of laws, and who would be responsible for the rectification of diplomatic, financial, and military affairs. Even if military management is implemented, it cannot be left to the final say of the military. The generals under my command are still so-so in fighting, and the management of civil affairs is much worse. In the current situation, it is not possible to summon all the senior leaders of the Mengshan Army to Wuchang, so except for Sister Qiu, who wants to go to the southeast, you should all go to Beijing with me. ”

This was the first time Long Qian had spoken about his political ideals. Several of the people in the conversation were not well prepared, and it was difficult for them to come up with any different opinions. But Song Jiaoren, Hong Yuecheng and Qiu Jin all vaguely felt that Long Qian had plans to set the capital in Beijing. (To be continued......)

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