Chapter Fifty-Seven: Making a Detour

  On the other side, Li Yuanhong was invited to the Advisory Council, and Yang Qiu also rushed over to see Hu Ruizhen. Seeing him so enthusiastic about treating an old constitutionalist, Zhang Wenjing, who followed him, was somewhat surprised.

  Hu Rui-lin, nearly fifty years old, is not only a member of the Advisory Council but also a young man who studied economics in Japan and invested heavily after returning home. In recent years, he has begun to believe in Buddhism and has vowed to become a great layman, known for his kindness and generosity throughout Hubei Province. Last night, after being brought here by soldiers and hearing gunfire all night, his eyes were red and swollen when he saw Yang Qiu's face, which was still somewhat stiff, but he quickly calmed down. Due to his special status, he has met many people from all walks of life, so he already had a sense of the instability in the three towns. He had thought about the Nationalist Party seizing power and also thought that Rui Cong would stabilize the situation, but he never expected Yang Qiu to appear!

  Yang Qiu was only able to become the banner general because Zhang Biao and Rui Cong didn't get along, but unexpectedly he took advantage of the situation and captured Hankou and Hanyang in just over two months, his energy is really astonishing! He hastily forced out a smile: "Banner General is too polite, I'm just a retired scholar at home, entering the Advisory Council was entirely due to everyone's kindness, I don't know why Banner General invited me..."

  After having someone pour tea, Yang Qiu politely said: "I should have come to invite Mr. Hu personally last night, but there were too many miscellaneous things and I couldn't leave, which made you startled, Chen Hua is really guilty of death, so let me use this cup of tea to apologize to you."

  Hu Rui Lin didn't expect Yang Qiu to be so polite, after a few pleasantries he said: "General Biao is young and promising, having already taken down the two towns of Yang Xia, in the future you will surely become a core member of the party, your success is just around the corner, I offer my congratulations to you first."

  Yang Qiu smiled and said: "The gentleman is wrong, I am not a member of any party!"

  "You're not...?" Hu Ruizhen's heart skipped a beat, and the Buddhist beads in his hand spun rapidly. Zhang Wenjing didn't know what Yang Qiu was going to do, but he caught the hint and hastily said: "Your Excellency is mistaken, the Banner Union is not some kind of party, they just don't want to see the Qing court lose power and suffer humiliation, cede territory and pay indemnities, and make the people miserable. That's why they took advantage of the situation to rise up and hope to find a way out for the people."

  Hu Rui-lin didn't expect that Yang Qiu wasn't a party member, and his heart slightly stirred. He said: "General Biao is indeed righteous, I thank you on behalf of all Han people under heaven. However, if you do this... it's likely to be unstable."

  "Isn't it?"

  "To be honest with you, the Wuchang side has been completely occupied by the party members. I agree with their overthrow of the Qing dynasty and expulsion of the Hui people, and I also admire their spirit of sacrificing themselves for justice. That's why I immediately took action to coordinate with them after learning about it, but...” Yang Qiu slapped the table, intentionally furrowing his brow and sighing: "After the heat of the moment has passed, there's nothing but trouble. Chen Hua is just a martial artist, he doesn't understand how to handle civil administration at all. Moreover, the party members have too shallow a foundation in the country, and their social status is also complicated. Last night I even caught several hundred fake party members who were looting and burning."

  This time, although the situation is different from before, almost everyone in the Hubei army participated, and overthrowing the Qing dynasty still has some certainty. But what about afterwards? The soil is barren, and for thousands of years, there has been no talk of republicanism on this vast land of China. Among 40 million compatriots, it would be a stroke of luck if even one in ten thousand truly understood republicanism. My original intention was to establish a constitutional monarchy, learning from Japan and Britain's monarchical system, which is most suitable for our national conditions. However, after the chaos of the Gengzi year, the Manchu people have cut off their own roots, and the reputation of constitutionalism has been ruined. It is absolutely impossible to turn back now, so I can only follow the party members and persist in this path.

  You know, the party has many factions and is internally chaotic. After achieving success, it's really too difficult to get them to work together in harmony! Once conflicts arise, their own divisions are imminent. Moreover, their main personnel have been living abroad for a long time, how can they understand the domestic situation? I dare say that if this continues, things will only get more and more chaotic. Although Chenhua also thinks that republicanism is the trend of the times, what kind of republicanism still needs to be explored."

  Without waiting for Hu Rui Lin to speak, Yang Qiu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued in an urgent tone: "So I've been feeling uneasy at heart, that's why I especially invited you to come and advise me."

  Hu Rui-lin is also an old constitutionalist, and the chaos of the Gengzi year made him deeply worried, so he has a certain understanding of the current situation. However, he did not expect that Yang Qiu, this "martial artist", could speak so clearly and logically, giving him a feeling of sudden enlightenment, and he was extremely surprised at heart. Moreover, he himself had never liked republicanism and had always been an iron-clad constitutionalist. But in recent years, the constitutionalists had fallen out of favor and were seen as obstacles by party members, so they could only take up Buddhist beads and become recluses. Now, after hearing this speech and thinking carefully about it, he realized that the constitutionalists indeed had no way out, and wondered what path to take next.

  Seeing him, Yang Qiu deliberately lowered his voice and said in a mysterious tone: "Sir, I've already learned that after the party's event, there is no suitable candidate, and they are preparing to let Li Xie take over as governor. So, I was thinking of asking you to temporarily manage the civil affairs on my side... As a martial artist, I don't understand these things, so I hope you can come out of retirement and lend me a hand! Besides, in case something happens to the party in the future, we... Hehe."

  Although the conversation didn't continue, Hu Rui Lin's eyelids were already jumping wildly! The party members proposed to let Li Yuanhong take office as the governor, was this possible? He couldn't believe it, but looking at Yang Qiu's expression, he didn't seem to be lying. Who Li Yuanhong was, he knew best, and he would definitely not have the same heart as the party members. Could it be that Yang Qiu was a chess piece placed outside on purpose, one to have a means of survival, and two to prepare to grasp part of the military power?

  If it's really like that...... then this Yang Qiu is indeed worth pulling in! However, he couldn't immediately agree, and at this time, he had to first take a look at the situation. If the news of Li Yuanhong becoming the governor of Wuchang was true, then it wouldn't be too late to make a move later on. So, he took out the 50,000 taels of silver that he had prepared earlier and smiled: "I'm old, and after many years of studying Buddhism, I don't know which trivial matters can be picked up. This 50,000 taels is just a small token of my intention, I hope General Zhang won't refuse it, let's just say it's for the hard work of our brothers outside."

  Hearing his tone relax a bit, Yang Qiu knew that this old fox still wanted to take a look at the situation before making a move, and didn't refuse to immediately put away the silver ticket. He smiled and said: "Then I'll hold onto it for you first, and after you make your move, we can use it as part of our usual civil administration expenses."

  Yang Qiu finished speaking and immediately bid farewell. After coming out and seeing that there was no one around, Zhang Wenjing asked with some surprise: "Sir, the Constitutionalists... are they unlikely to succeed? Moreover, Hu Rui Lin has not handled political affairs for many years, is it..."

  "I know! Chen Zimao and Rongyangzi, indeed can be discarded, but how many talents who understand civil administration can we find now? Just two towns need how many officials to operate? Connections, reputation do we have? So for now, we can only rely on these people. Anyway, the Constitutional Party and the Republican Party are not yet together so quickly, as for Hu Ruilin... he is a bit old, and he is a hermit, but don't forget who his children's in-laws are."

  "Tan Hualong?!" Zhang Wenjing's eyes lit up, and he said with admiration: "I'm really convinced, sir. You've gone around in such a big circle... you're amazing!" Seeing that he understood, Yang Qiu also smiled, but there was one thing he didn't say - Tan Hualong and the naval advisor Tang Xiangming were brothers, and this move wasn't just to temporarily win over the constitutionalists.

  The naval forces, that's the navy! Unfortunately, the corner of his mouth had just cracked open and hadn't reached its maximum, when the association from the sea to the warship ignited his anger again. His own ammunition ship! So he stomped his foot and gritted his teeth, saying: "Let's go, to Hanyang, to settle accounts with Shen Shuyi!"