Chapter 5 Found the Organization

  When Zhao Bei arrived at the Provincial Governor's Mansion, the big fire on that street had been extinguished. Due to the prohibition of civilians living in official residences, nearby shops were mostly owned by court officials, so the big fire did not affect the civilians. Under the efforts of the rebel troops, the fire was quickly extinguished. The burned and blackened walls of the official residence lost their former majesty, leaving only the Provincial Governor's Mansion untouched by the flames.

  The streets were filled with soldiers carrying torches, some wearing military uniforms, while others, although not in uniform, had white cloth strips tied around their left arms. They were the Anhui Hui Dang armed forces who came to assist in the war, mainly from the Gelao Hui and Qingbang. Compared to the new army soldiers, these Jianghu heroes were full of banditry, and they all dressed carefully according to the description in the pingshu, with everyone's hair tied up in a heroic knot, and a few people even had Yangmei flowers inserted into their temples. Some people held wine and meat in their hands, carrying brand-new foreign guns and swaggering through the streets.

  The gang, an organization with a strong gang color, in this era, it is both the only means for ordinary people to resist the powerful forces and the fierce tiger that destroys the social order of the underclass. In later generations, it is usually referred to as "the underworld".

  At the beginning of the revolution, these armed parties may have promoted the rapid spread of revolutionary forces to all corners of society, but after the revolution succeeded, they only played a destructive role.

  These armed party members were still holding silver coins in their hands, and the silver was also charred. This was the "credit" of Zhao Bei's fire. Because the treasury and government money bureau were ignited, the official silver stored in the warehouse was also roasted by the big fire. After extinguishing the fire, the rebel army dug out these silvers and distributed them as "recovery fees" to soldiers and militiamen who participated in the uprising, 20 taels per person, which is extremely generous. This may also be one of the reasons why some new army soldiers were willing to join the uprising.

  Looking at these "civilian army" soldiers, Zhao Bei slightly furrowed his brow. Although he also knew that the success of the revolution could not be achieved without these people, it was precisely because of the participation of these three teachings and nine flows that the revolutionary camp was uneven, with chaotic command, and once defeated, these gang armed forces would usually disperse in a hurry, shaking military morale, dispersing into society, and becoming a hotbed of bandits and thieves.

  Before the Xinhai Revolution, most of the funds raised by revolutionaries to launch uprisings ended up in the pockets of gang members. These people joined the revolution for a simple purpose: to make money and gain official positions. The slogans of national justice were merely mouthed without necessarily understanding their meaning.

  But without relying on these people, it won't work either. The common people are numb and disorganized, only the secret societies have the spirit and strength to resist, and many of them still carry the banner of "Overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming", they are the natural allies of the revolution.

  Zhao Bei led the troops to the entrance of the patrol mansion, where he saw that the front gate had been pushed open, replaced by a flagpole two men high, with a large flag hanging from it all the way down to the ground, on which were written four big characters: Grand Commander Xiong.

  The flag was the original standard of the provincial governor's yamen, with the embroidered gold characters removed, but the four words "Great General Xiong" were written in brush script, with bold strokes and ink still wet.

  On the way, Zhao Bei had already inquired clearly from Wu Zhenhan. At the time when he led soldiers to maintain order on the streets, the headquarters of the uprising had passed a resolution to establish the "Grand Governor's Mansion", and supported General Commander Xiong Chengji as the "Grand Governor". After the situation was relatively calm, they would also hold a national congress to formally discuss the name of the country, the form of government, and elect the head of state.

  However, the situation is still quite severe. Although the Qing army has been driven out of the city, under the command of Qing officials, some scattered troops have begun to gather. One unit is stationed outside the west gate of the city, and another has crossed the river by boat and established a large camp on the south bank of the Yangtze River, facing off against the rebel army across the river. Occasionally, a dull whistle can be heard from the shipping route on the Yangtze River, but it is unclear whether it is a Qing warship until further reconnaissance at dawn.

  In the face of crisis, as the commander-in-chief of the insurgent army, Xiong Chengji was busy day and night. As soon as the "Grand Commander's Mansion" was established, he took his subordinates and staff to inspect each city gate, on the one hand to understand the enemy situation, on the other hand to comfort the soldiers and recruit civilian troops to counterattack against the possible counterattack of the Qing army.

  When Zhao Bei rushed to the Xunfu Gate, he found nothing but empty air and didn't see Xiong Chengji. He had no choice but to wait outside the gate with his troops for further deployment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he collected all the "Guangfu Bao" from his own troops and personally distributed it to the soldiers. At the same time, he got familiar with all his subordinates, and everyone was able to take a close look at their superior, the "First Hero of Breaking the City".

  The military pay has been distributed, and Zhao Bei sat down beside the stone lion at the gate of the government office, discussing military affairs with several advisors who stayed behind at the Grand Commandant's headquarters. It was only then that he learned that due to the failure to capture the southern city in time, most of the Qing officials inside the city had escaped along with their troops, and Zhu Jiabao, the Anhui governor who was stationed in Anqing, had also gone missing. Some said he died in the chaos, while others claimed he fled to Jixian Pass in the north. Various pieces of intelligence were pouring in, but they were all confusing and unclear, reflecting the chaotic state of the early days of the revolution.

  Half an hour later, a cavalry escort accompanied by a young man wearing a large cloak arrived at the yamen, followed by new army soldiers and a team of yamen runners holding water and fire clubs.

  "Boss Bear has arrived! Salute!"

  The whistle officer shouted loudly, and Zhao Bei only then learned that the young man was the commander-in-chief of this uprising and a member of the Guangfu Society, Xiong Chengji. He hastily stood at attention and saluted.

  Xiong Chengji jumped off his war horse and came before Zhao Bei. The two young men sized each other up, both surprised by the youth of the other.

  Xiong Chengji was twenty-one years old, younger than Zhao Bei, with a fair complexion and a gentle appearance, making it difficult to associate him with "rebelling", if not for Wu Zhenhan's introduction, Zhao Bei almost thought he had mistaken the person.

  "Are you Zhao Bei?" Xiong Chengji also couldn't hide his inner surprise.

  "See the Grand Commander!" Zhao Bei said respectfully.

  "Wu Guan has just told me about your heroic feat of blasting open the city gate. You are a hero! If you hadn't stirred up trouble and disrupted the Qing army's deployment inside the city, our army would have had a hard time entering the city. Our artillery shells didn't have fuses, but fortunately, you adapted quickly and sent Wu Guan to seize the gunpowder depot. My name is Xiong Chengji, courtesy name Weigen, from Yangzhou." Xiong Chengji extended his hand.

  Zhao Bei shook hands with him and said: "General Xiong overpraised me. My name is Zhao Bei, courtesy name Zhenhua, from Hubei Province. In my early years, I traveled to Europe with my family, broadened my horizons, and aspired to revolution. However, I had not found a revolutionary organization until now. This time I returned to China to overthrow the Qing dynasty and save the country and its people. After returning, I learned that Xu Xilin, a righteous man, had sacrificed himself in a revolt against the Qing government years ago. My heart was filled with sorrow, so I decided to take action to avenge Xu's death. Through connections, I purchased a powerful bomb from abroad and arrived in Anqing, planning to assassinate the governor of Anhui Province. However, before taking action, I coincidentally encountered your army's uprising, so I changed my plan and joined forces with you. Before nightfall, I snuck into the city gate area. Seeing that the internal response troops were hesitant, I took decisive action and used the bomb to blast open the city gate. Unexpectedly, the insurgent soldiers praised me for my bravery, and they elected me as their temporary commander. I led the righteous army in a fierce battle inside the city, supporting our comrades outside."

  All these "personal histories" were just made up by Zhao Bei, and instead of waiting for the other party to ask questions, it's better to be frank and open, so as not to make people suspicious and affect unity.

  "That bomb of yours would be better used to assassinate the fake Qing governor. By the way, how did you know we were going to launch a rebellion?" Xiong Chengji smiled and shook his head. Before entering the city, he had thought that the city gate was blown open by Xue Zhe leading his troops, but after meeting Wu Zhenhan in the city, he learned that it wasn't so simple. If not for Zhao Bei's timely intervention, the city gate would have been impossible to open, and without Zhao Bei leading his troops in a fierce battle inside the city, disrupting the Qing army's deployment, the fighting within the city wouldn't have ended so quickly. Therefore, Xiong Chengji was extremely grateful to Zhao Bei, and despite opposition from others, he appointed Zhao Bei as the left-wing commander of the rebellion army to reward him for his contributions.

  Xiong Chengji suddenly asked, and Zhao Bei's heart secretly became alert, his eyebrows furrowed, saying: "I heard it from some people in the Huì Party, at first I didn't completely believe it, just holding a try-it-out attitude, didn't expect you really launched an uprising. Commander Xiong, the Huì Party's secrecy is not strict, I'm afraid the news has already leaked out, otherwise why did the Qing army suddenly strengthen its guard tonight?"

  "This is indeed the case. However, if they hadn't leaked the news, how would you have been able to ambush near the city gate? How could our army have easily entered the city?" Xiong Chengji was in a great mood and didn't even bother to blame Huizhang.

  "Unfortunately, even after chasing away Zhu Jiaobao, we didn't capture many of the fake Qing officials." Zhao Bei sighed. If they could have captured one or two high-ranking officials and forced them to "turn over" like the Wuchang Uprising troops did, perhaps they could have also won over some of the fence-sitters. In fact, during the Xinhai Revolution, Li Yuanhong's rise to power was not only due to the political immaturity of the revolutionaries but also had a stabilizing effect on people's minds. When the fence-sitters saw that even Li Yuanhong, who had opposed the revolution, had "joined" the revolution, they too jumped into the revolutionary tide.

  Sometimes, the trend of history can also be artificially created, and history is originally a practice of chaos theory.

  "Our military strength is weak, and we were able to take down this city by sheer luck. Those corrupt Qing officials ran away, but they won't be able to run far anyway. Later, we'll catch them one by one and kill them." Xiong Chengji waved his hand towards the back. "Bring those people up here!"

  Soldiers and yamen runners brandished their guns and knives, escorting over a dozen Qing soldiers who were tightly bound with ropes. The Qing soldiers all had bruised noses and swollen faces, their queues disheveled, as they were forced to kneel down in front of the prefecture by the soldiers.

  "Execute!" Xiong Chengji growled in disgust.

  After the shots, there were more than a dozen corpses with their brains blown out lying on the ground.

  "These people were all trusted Gūshah of the former Governor Enming. Last year, when Bohun died, these banner people and dog slaves actually dug out Bohun's liver. Now, use them to sacrifice to Bohun."

  Xiong Chengji's words dispelled Zhao Bei and others' confusion.

  "Bohun" is the courtesy name of Xue Xilun. Last year, Xue Xilun led a rebellion by police students and personally killed Enming, the governor of Anhui Province. After being captured alive by Qing soldiers, Enming's guards were furious that he had killed their master and hated him to the bone. They cut out his liver and ate it with wine. This incident caused a sensation at the time, and Mr. Lu Xun's short story "Medicine" was created based on this event. Zhao Bei also knew something about this history, but according to historical records, it was said that they "cut out the heart as an offering", not cut out the liver and ate it with wine.

  "Zhenhua, are you interested in joining the Kuomintang?" Xiong Chengji asked Zhao Bei.

  "Is the Kuomintang a revolutionary organization?" Zhao Beiming asked with feigned ignorance.

  "To be honest with you, I am a member of the Revive China Society. The purpose of the Revive China Society is 'to restore the Han Chinese dynasty, to recover our rivers and mountains, to dedicate ourselves to the country, and to retire after achieving success'. Of course, it's a revolutionary organization, what we're doing is overthrowing the Qing imperial court!"

  "Is your organization and the Alliance the same thing? When I was abroad, all I heard about was the 'Alliance'." Zhao Bei continued to play dumb.

  Xiong Chengji sank into thought for a moment, then smiled bitterly: "The Guangfu Society had once merged with the Alliance Society, but unfortunately the two factions had great differences and could only split up again. Although they did not declare a split, now each is doing their own thing. The people of the Alliance Society are just good at talking, only knowing how to stay abroad and shout for others to sacrifice themselves, while sitting in the conference room holding maps and pointing here and there."

  Regarding the differences between Tongmenghui and Guangfuhui, Zhao Bei knew some of it. According to later historians' research, several leaders of Guangfuhui had varying degrees of monarchist ideas, their revolution meant changing dynasties, which was not quite the same as Tongmenghui's advocacy for establishing a republic. Moreover, Guangfuhui was an extreme action faction, at least in its early stages, its members were more focused on putting revolutionary ideas into practice through actual actions, even resorting to assassination activities, their methods were more drastic than Tongmenghui's remote control of party uprisings from overseas. Many Guangfuhui cadres sacrificed themselves for the cause, which was also one of the reasons why Guangfuhui's strength never developed. Of course, later Tongmenghui cadres also returned to China, risking their lives, and personally participated in uprisings, here it must be said that they were influenced or stimulated by Guangfuhui.

  Xiong Chengji grasped Zhao Bei's hand and said: "Zhenhua brother, you are a warrior who practices revolution with your body, you should join our Guangfu Society."

  Zhao Bei smiled and nodded his head, saying: "In that case, since Wei Gen brother is willing to vouch for me, if he's willing to be my introducer, I'll join the Guangfu Society. Finally found an organization!"

  "Great! Great! I'll be your guarantor! I'll write a letter right away to introduce you to Director Tao and the others." Xiong Chengji said excitedly.

  After the bodies of those Goshha were dragged away, Xiong Chengji invited Zhao Bei into the Governor's Mansion, which was converted from the Governor's Mansion. The two chatted for a while, and Xiong Chengji wrote a letter of recommendation to Tao Chengzhang, who was in Shanghai, recommending Zhao Bei. As soon as the letter was written, Zhao Bei was about to discuss the matter of attacking Nanjing, but the commanders of the uprising command center had already rushed over to discuss matters, and a military meeting was convened like this.