Chapter 4

  Xu Xilin went to welcome Hua Xiongmao and after a while, he came in. Chen Ke felt a bit strange, although the Xu family's house was big, even if a normal turtle made its way forward with great effort, it would have crawled from the entrance hall by now. Just as he was guessing, Xu Xilin led Hua Xiongmao into the living room, and although his expression still looked somewhat depressed, at least Xu Xilin had regained his normal demeanor. Hua Xiongmao saw Qiu Jin in the house and respectfully called out: "Auntie Qiu, hello." Then he turned to Chen Ke and said: "Brother Chen, hello. Yesterday's drinking was very enjoyable, today is a good day for Brother Chen to continue drinking."

  These two titles made Chen Ke feel very wrong, and after a moment of contemplation, he suddenly realized that he had been taken advantage of by Qiu Jin. Chen Ke stood up and said, "Hua Juren, yesterday was indeed a good drink." Then Chen Ke turned his head, "Sister Qiu, it turns out that this Hua Juren is your relative."

  Qiu Jin had much more social experience than Chen Ke, and as soon as she heard this, she knew that Chen Ke was unwilling to lose face in terms of seniority. She couldn't help but laugh out loud at this childish behavior. "Wen Qing, you don't have to be so formal. Xiong Mao is my cousin's son. You can call him Brother Hua, and me Sister Qiu, either way is fine. I won't take advantage of you, nor will I let you take advantage of Xiong Mao. Let's just relax."

  "Auntie Qiu, I grew up overseas and basically don't know the local etiquette. I'm not sure how to address each other in this situation?" Chen Ke hastily replied.

  "Just call him Hua Shixiong. Don't address him as Hua Xiong directly. Otherwise, you can just exchange courtesy names with each other. Xiongmao, Chen Kexin, Wenqing, Wenqing, Xiongmao's courtesy name is Zhenglan."

  "Thank you, Aunt Qiu, for your advice." Chen Ke hastened to express his gratitude.

  Hua Xiongmao just chuckled and asked, "Brother Chen's style name is Wenqing?" Chen Ke nodded, "Brother Hua, my surname is Chen, my name is Ke, and my style name is Wenqing."

  Everyone sat down again, and Xu Xilin said: "Xiong Mao, you and Wen Qing have some misunderstandings. I originally called you to mediate. However, after hearing what you said, it seems that you two met again yesterday and cleared up the previous misunderstanding. That's good."

  It wasn't until then that Chen Ke understood why Xu Xilin had lingered at the gate for so long. It turned out that he was mediating on his own behalf at the gate, and although Chen Ke wasn't afraid of Hua Xiongmao, it still wasn't a good idea to provoke a martial arts champion for no reason.

  Hua Xiongmao laughed and said, "Uncle, you also know that what I dislike the most are fake foreigners and those who believe in foreign religions. Yesterday when we were drinking and chatting, Brother Chen was neither a fake foreigner nor did he believe in foreign religions, so what misunderstanding can be spoken of?"

  "That's good, that's good." Xú Xīlín said with a forced cheerful tone.

  Hua Xiongmao felt that the atmosphere was a bit off, so he asked: "Uncle, do you and Brother Chen still have something to discuss? In that case, I'll come visit another day."

  "No need to change the day, these two days I, you, Autumn Auntie and Wen Qing are going to Shanghai. If you have other things, say it now." Xu Xi Lin replied.

  After hearing Xu Xilin's words, Chen Ke was overjoyed. Hua Xiongmao's face also showed a happy expression, "How about I go to Shanghai with everyone?"

  The team from Shaoxing to Shanghai was quickly formed, with Xu Xilin as the captain and three official members: Qiu Jin, Chen Ke, and Hua Xiongmao. Temporary members included Qiu Jin's maid, named Lin Jian. From Shaoxing to Shanghai, there were no trains, let alone long-distance buses. On the way to the dock, Xu Xilin told everyone that he had hired a large boat yesterday and expected to arrive in Shanghai in three or four days. Upon hearing this time frame of three or four days, Chen Ke simply nodded. Taking the train from Shaoxing to Shanghai would take only a few hours. The difference in efficiency was somewhat absurd.

  Qiu Jin was delighted, "Wen Qing, this is a good opportunity for us to have a conversation."

  In the early summer of 1905, it was not as hot as in the 21st century, and the cabin was still quite cool. Looking out of the window, there were crops on both sides of the riverbank, and occasionally, you could see a waterwheel slowly turning, with farmers working hard in the fields, giving off a picturesque feel. The river was not wide, but there were many boats on its surface, most of which were small ones. Chen Ke had seen many such scenes in TV movies, but growing up by the Yellow River, Chen Ke felt very novel and curious when he took a boat ride in the water network of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

  Looking at Chen Ke staring intently out of the window, Qiu Jin asked: "Wenqing, how is the scenery?"

  "I've never seen such a good view before. I haven't taken a boat ride for a long time." Chen Ke replied casually.

  "The scenery is so good, but the country is in such a state of disrepair. The literati really have no ideas." Xú Xī Lǐn continued the conversation. From what he said, it seems that he still plans to extract the revolutionary plan from Chen Ke's mouth.

  Chen Ke turned his head back, since he had decided to cooperate with Xue Xilun and Qiu Jin, Chen Ke felt that at least there should be a certain basis for cooperation. Yesterday, he deliberated for a long time and roughly determined the bottom line of what could and couldn't be said. "Bohuan brother, haven't cotton prices risen quite a bit in the past two years?"

  "Huh?" Xu Xilin was momentarily baffled by Chen Ke's irrelevant response.

  "In recent years, the number of spinning mills has been increasing, and so have the ports where foreigners trade with China. Domestic cotton is either exported or used locally. The demand for cotton is growing, but the total production of cotton has not increased. As a result, the price of cotton keeps rising."

  Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin looked at each other in dismay, Chen Ke's words were reasonable, but the two had not investigated the price of cotton.

  "That's right." Huaxiongmao chimed in.

  "Hong Mao, how did you know the price of cotton?" Qiu Jin asked.

  "In the previous trip, I and several friends transported a batch of cotton. On the way, that friend kept complaining about the sharp rise in cotton prices. That's how I knew." Huaxiong Mao replied calmly.

  After listening to Hua Xiongmao's words, Chen Ke felt a bit strange. Hua Xiongmao was a martial arts champion, yet he also participated in the Yunhuafang activity. However, thinking about it again, Jiangsu and Zhejiang were places with strong business traditions, so it wasn't unusual for Hua Xiongmao to do some business. At this time, Xu Xilin asked: "What did Wen Qing want to say?"

  "The cotton output didn't increase, but the demand for cotton did, so the price of cotton went up."

  "What does this have to do with revolution?" Xue Xilun was perplexed.

  "I think that the government established by the revolution should be a government that can manage these things. For example, if you open a cotton mill, the workers need to eat, do you provide food? If you open a cotton mill, you need cotton, and the price of cotton is high, so the cost of cloth is naturally also high. Foreign cloth is cheaper than Chinese cloth on the market, so you can't compete with foreign cloth. If these problems can't be solved, then investing a lot of money in textile mills is just throwing money away. You can't sell your own domestically produced cloth and won't make any money, which means losing money. There's no need to do business that loses money." Chen Ke thought his explanation was sufficient at this point.

  Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin both began to ponder the content of Chen Ke's words after hearing this explanation.

  A moment later, Hua Xiongmao suddenly asked: "Is Wen Qing going to let the country open a textile mill?"

  Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin suddenly felt enlightened after hearing this, they were so confused by Chen Ke's words about calculating costs that they didn't notice the premise Chen Ke put forward. It turned out that Chen Ke wanted the country to take on the responsibility of planting grains, planting cotton, opening textile mills, and organizing workers all at once.

  "This, this... Wen Qing, your revolution..." Chen Ke's words made Xu Xilin unacceptable. "Our revolution is for China, after the success of the revolution, let people take charge themselves. Your revolution, Wen Qing, is not about retiring after achieving success, but about climbing to a higher level."

  When Xu Xilin spoke of "the people being their own masters", Chen Ke couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Many, many people in Chinese history have said similar things, like "petitioning for the people's lives" and opposing "competing with the people for profit". But which one of these people didn't represent the interests of the propertied class? When were the "people" not just the landlords and merchants of the propertied class?

  And these property owners, they always put their own economic interests first. These days Chen Ke has been constantly recalling the political knowledge he learned, and there is a sentence that he thinks makes sense: "The petty bourgeoisie is the most reactionary." The big bourgeoisie, because it has penetrated into all aspects of society, at least considers problems with a broader perspective when considering issues. The interests of the petty bourgeoisie are limited to their own small plot of land, and their consideration is both narrow-minded and stubborn. If the mainstream of the country is indeed the petty bourgeoisie, then it would be a disaster.

  However, Xu Xilin at least did not hear the implication of the state depriving landlords of their land ownership in Chen Ke's words. If Xu Xilin understood this layer of meaning, it is unknown what he would think. Now saying something unpleasant, Chen Ke needs to rely on Xu Xilin. If there is a conflict in revolutionary theory and Xu Xilin gets angry, then things might not go well afterwards. For now, one aspect is to let Xu Xilin believe that Chen Ke is a true revolutionary party, while another aspect is to make Xu Xilin have expectations for himself without a full-scale conflict. Only this way can the cooperation proceed.

  Thinking of these things, Chen Ke replied: "Bohun brother, I have also said that my ideal revolution is not just to overthrow the Qing dynasty and take over. It's about overthrowing the old system of China. Until this point is achieved, the revolution cannot be considered a success. In my opinion, it is the right way for the country to manage these things. The previous imperial power did not extend to the county level, which is completely inappropriate in this era."

  These words had gone beyond Xue Xilun's imagination. As a patriotic and hot-blooded young man, Xue Xilun felt that if the current Manchu government, which was bringing disaster to the country and its people, were completely eliminated, China could enter a beautiful new era. Chen Ke's proposal for building a new system in this new era had never occurred to Xue Xilun. Now, after hearing Chen Ke's words, Xue Xilun felt that they made sense, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was being proposed. He had an inexplicable feeling of resistance to what Chen Ke was saying.

  Qiu Jin listened to the conversation between the two, silent and speechless. Emotionally, Qiu Jin was naturally more inclined towards Xue Xilun, but Chen Ke's words made her feel more reasonable. Hua Xiongmao was very interested in this, he interjected again: "The new system that Wen Qing mentioned, what kind of official system will it be? Is it still the imperial examination?"

  Hua Xiongmao's words made Chen Ke extremely surprised, and he couldn't help but stare at Hua Xiongmao for a moment. Perhaps Hua Xiongmao was indeed a martial arts champion, and in some sense still an insider, so his sensitivity to the system was even higher than that of Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin. Chen Ke replied: "In the end, we must still take the path of imperial examination, but the new imperial examination will select not officials, but clerks."

  "What? How are we going to take the exam?" Hua Xiongmao always got straight to the point with his questions.

  "The content of the exam is not the Four Books and Five Classics, but rather mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural sciences and so on. Most importantly, the country establishes schools, all children must receive education. Everyone has the opportunity to take the imperial examination."

  "How are officials selected? Are they selected from among the clerks?" Hua Xiong Mao became even more interested.

  Chen Ke was no longer admiring Hua Xiong, but rather had become somewhat wary. However, being able to meet someone as perceptive as this was truly surprising, Chen Ke replied: "Brother Hua is right. From now on, officials will be promoted based on their governance achievements."

  "So governance is what Wen Qing calls managing land, managing cotton flowers, and managing the opening of factories?" Hua Xiongmao said with a face full of joy.

  "Could it be that Brother Hua is not a revolutionary?" Chen Ke was already at a loss for words.

  "I'm not a revolutionary, I just completely lost hope in the government. Although I passed the Wuju exam, there's no place for me to serve the country." Huaxiong Mao smiled and said: "Wenqing, the reason I dislike fake foreigners is that whenever they speak, it's about how backward China is and how powerful foreign countries are. Those who believe in Western religion use the power of foreigners to do evil. The court officials set up Wenju and Wuju exams, but it's completely useless. Even if you pass the exam, there's no way to serve the country. I won't mention how rotten the Wuju exam has become over the years. As for the Wenju exam, in the past, at least they looked at the content of your writing, now all they care about is whether your handwriting is good or not. The content of your article is not important at all. After hearing what you said, Wenqing, I think this is the right way for our country."

  Hua Xiongmao's words were so clear and straightforward that Chen Ke was surprised, "Then why didn't Brother Hua go take the entrance exam for a new-style school?" he asked.

  "Even if I graduated from the new school, I would only become a private disciple of those who run the school. I'm not capable of doing that kind of thing. My family isn't short on money either, and doing business with friends is enough to make a living. I really can't do things that make me a slave to others." Huaxiong Mao replied.

  It seems that all sorts of people exist in this world, Chen Ke thought to himself. He had assumed that as revolutionaries, Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin would understand his revolutionary thinking, but unexpectedly, the martial artist Hua Xiongmao was even more receptive to the bureaucratic system he had established. If he could pull someone like Hua Xiongmao into his own camp, the revolutionary cause might actually be able to move forward.

  When the conversation reached this point, Chen Ke felt that it was unnecessary to talk about revolution anymore, so he shifted the topic to modern scientific knowledge. Qiu Jin and Xue Xilun were both interested in assassinating high-ranking Qing officials, and Chen Ke explained the chemical principles of bombs, production methods, and various precautions for storage, transportation, and use. In order to prevent the two revolutionaries from being blown up by their own bombs, Chen Ke gave them a basic chemistry training. Chen Ke wrote down various equations fluently, which looked like ghostly symbols to Xue Xilun and Qiu Jin. Facing the two frustrated people, Chen Ke said: "When we make some money, we'll open a school. At that time, you two can study these things thoroughly in school."

  The closer to Shanghai, the more lively it is on the water. On the third morning, I saw a familiar and strange building with thick smoke billowing from its tall chimney. Chen Ke had seen many chimneys before, and as a child, he often climbed these high structures, but it had been many years since he'd seen them in the city. As one of China's few industrial centers, Shanghai concentrated a significant proportion of industrial enterprises. The closer to Shanghai, the more factory chimneys there were.

  Not only that, but the number of ships is also increasing. The prosperous Shanghai not only concentrated factories, but also gathered a large number of workers. As an important foreign city in China, business is also prosperous. Of course, there are also negative effects, and the closer to Shanghai, the worse the water quality is. A foul smell floats on the surface of the river, forcing Chen Ke back into the cabin.

  On the dock, people were bustling about, with various local accents calling out to customers. Those who lived in the shops, those who transported goods, and laborers wearing short clothes were all working hard to drum up business for the day. Apart from the difference in transportation tools, it was no different from a modern train station. After getting off the boat, Chen Ke felt his legs go soft, as if the entire ground was shaking. Hua Xiongmao chuckled and took over Chen Ke's large travel bag, "Looks like intellectuals aren't good at taking boats."

  "I've made everyone laugh." Chen Ke said as he reached for his own bag.

  "Cut the nonsense." Huaxiong Mao said. Then he turned his head and shouted loudly: "Bring a few carts." Originally, there were already rickshaw pullers pulling empty carts in this direction, and when they heard Huaxiong Mao's loud shout, more rickshaw pullers rushed over in a hurry.

  Xu Xilin did not want to waste money, so he finally hired a large cart and had everyone get on it to head towards the city.

  Chen Ke still wore the same outfit he had in Shaoxing, but here no one gave him a second glance. A suit and leather shoes were nothing out of the ordinary in Shanghai. The shops lined up side by side on both sides of the street, with many pedestrians passing by, and beggars could be seen everywhere on the streets. This bustling Chinese metropolis was just like the records of history.

  Chen Ke didn't remember the way, and they walked through big streets and small alleys until Xu Xilin led everyone to the Shanghai Restoration Society's hideout. As soon as they entered, someone shouted: "Bohun, when did you arrive in Shanghai?" Xu Xilin hurried over to talk to that person. In the past few days, Chen Ke had been teaching classes and learning some Southern dialects. He vaguely understood that Xu Xilin called that person Mr. Tao. Upon closer inspection, this Mr. Tao, who wore a long gown, gave him the impression of being "round". His body was round and plump, his face was round and plump, but his eyebrows were deep and sharp, looking very spirited.

  The two men spoke for a moment, and then Xu Xilin introduced both sides. This Mr. Tao was named Tao Chengzhang. Chen Ke had some impression of this name, but couldn't recall too much more, probably a well-known figure in the Guangfu Hui. When Xu Xilin introduced himself, he was somewhat evasive, only saying that Chen Ke had returned from studying in America. Tao Chengzhang bowed to everyone one by one, his attitude very sincere. He looked like someone who often went out and made connections.

  "Mr. Tao, we would like to meet Mr. Cai. I don't know if he is available now." Xu Xilin asked.

  After hearing this, Tao Chengzhang's face showed a slightly embarrassed expression. "Mr. Cai has been in contact with the Alliance people recently, and it may not be possible for these few days."

  "We can wait a bit," Xue Xilun replied. "Mr. Tao, do you have any friends in Shanghai who are familiar with the concessions foreigners?"

  Tao Chengzhang was stunned, Xu Xilin didn't like foreigners, everyone knew that, and not many members of the Guangfu Society liked to deal with them. Unexpectedly, Xu Xilin actually wanted to have some dealings with the foreign firms in the concession this time, which was beyond Tao Chengzhang's expectations. After thinking for a moment, Tao Chengzhang said: "I know someone named You Yun, you can find him."

  "Where can I find Mr. You?"

  "Guangyuan Wine House."

  “……”

  Guangyuan Hotel was located on Baochang Road, also known as the middle section of Xiafei Road. The sign above the door was neither new nor old, and it looked like it hadn't been wiped clean for a long time. The facade wasn't big either, and at this moment, which was in the afternoon, there were few customers inside. When Chen Ke, Xu Xilin, and Hua Xiongmao walked into the hotel, there were only three or four people inside. To be more specific, one Chinese person and two foreigners sat at a table, while the boss stood behind the counter - that was about it.

  According to Tao Chengzhang, this Mr. You Yun has been spending his days getting drunk at the Guangyuan Hotel lately. When mentioning this person, Tao Chengzhang's expression had an inexplicable flavor - half sympathetic and half disdainful. Chen Ke took a closer look at the people in the hotel and couldn't help but blink repeatedly before taking another look. The Chinese person who was with the foreigners turned out to be a woman wearing a long satin dress and braids, chatting with them in English. She seemed to have had quite a bit to drink, her left arm resting on the table, her fist supporting her cheek, and her tone of voice somewhat altered. The three people spoke slowly, and Chen Ke listened for a while before roughly understanding that the foreigners were inviting the Chinese woman to go somewhere to have fun, but she was refusing.

  Chen Ke didn't want to waste any more time, so he quickly walked up to the shopkeeper and asked, "Shopkeeper, excuse me, does a Mr. You Yin often come here to drink?" Chen Ke's newly learned Jiangsu-Zhejiang dialect wasn't very good, and the shopkeeper was taken aback, not saying anything before the woman behind him said in English, "What?"

  "We are looking for a Mr. You Yun." Xue Xilun chimed in.

  "There is no Mr. You Yun," she said in English. "But there is a Miss You Yun."

  "Oh." Chen Ke blinked again, "You're Ms. You Youshu?"

  Two foreigners were clearly dissatisfied with the interruption of their conversation, one of whom stood up and said in English: "We are talking, you get out first." At least Chen Ke understood "get out" as not a very kind expression. Just thinking about how to respond, he saw the woman turn around. Chen Ke thought that what he should see was a drunken face, but what entered his eyes was a pair of clear and calm phoenix eyes. However, this was only an instant impression, and the gaze in those phoenix eyes was gloomy and persistent, which should not be the case under normal circumstances.

  "Are you Mr. You Youshu?" Chen Ke wanted to confirm. Before the woman could respond, the foreign devil had already lost his patience. Of course, perhaps they had been impatient for a while now. Now that they had found an excuse, they began to intimidate Chen Ke.

  "Shut up!" the woman shouted, pulling out a cylindrical object from her pocket and slapping it on the table. Chen Ke took a glance, and that thing seemed to be a paper tube. Hopefully not a detonator, Chen thought.

  The foreigner reached out to grab the paper tube, and the lady picked up a chopstick and stabbed it towards the back of the foreigner's hand. The foreigner quickly withdrew his hand, and the bamboo chopstick hit the table with a crisp sound before breaking in two. The already tense atmosphere was completely ignited at this point, and the two foreigners stood up simultaneously, with the one closer to the Chinese lady reaching out to push her. Chen Ke rushed forward and slapped away the foreigner's palm.

  "Who are you?" The foreigner asked angrily.

  Chen Ke stared at them and said word by word:

  “I”

  “am”

  “your”

  “father！”

  The room suddenly fell silent, whether they understood or not. A few people looked at each other in dismay, "Hahaha!" The woman burst out laughing. After a few laughs, she felt unsatisfied and started pounding the table with her small fists. At this moment, two foreigners' anger finally erupted, one of them shouted something profane and rushed over. Chen Ke had long been prepared, seeing the foreigner start to act, his fist swung forcefully towards the foreigner's nose.

  Xu Xilin was momentarily stunned and stood still on the spot, while Hua Xiongmao burst out laughing and shouted loudly, also rushing forward.

  Three minutes later, Huaxiongmao lifted his right leg and kicked the foreign devil who had fallen to the ground. "What's next?" he asked.

  Chen Ke's left foot lifted from another foreigner's chest and thought for a moment before stepping back. "Excuse me, is that Ms. You Yun over there?"

  The Chinese lady had just stopped smiling and looked at Chen Ke and Hua Xiongmao's behavior, and couldn't help but burst out laughing again, nodding her head as she laughed.

  "I heard you know some foreigners from the foreign firm, aren't they these two people?" Chen Ke asked with a smile.

  "Unfortunately, it is neither of these two people." Ms. You replied in English.

  "Why use English?" Chen Ke asked in surprise.

  "Because I speak Jiangzhe dialect, I'm afraid you won't understand." Ms. You Yun replied in English with a slightly drunken tone.

  "Then can you understand what I'm saying?" Chen Ke was even more surprised.

  "I can understand your accent."

  "Let's change places and talk." Chen Ke said with a smile.

  "Okay!" The lady said, standing up straight and tall, "Where are we going?"