Chapter 56 Election Storm (II)

  Jiangsu Province Wujin County, after the election began, Wujin County set up a total of ten polling stations, numbered from one to ten, these polling stations are located in rural areas.

  The election campaign started in August, and with Jiang Yu's support, a group of prestigious gentlemen participated in the congressional election. These gentlemen, due to their good reputation and Jiang Yu's financial backing for their speeches and propaganda, were heavily promoted by local newspapers and propaganda teams, resulting in most of the primary elections in Wujin County being won by candidates supported by Jiang Yu.

  Apart from this, some of the MPs supported by Jiang Yu also used bribery to get elected. Bribery is a despicable act, but since the MPs supported by Jiang Yu are all independents, even if they are despised, it's just their personal problem.

  The Huadong Chamber of Commerce has deeply manipulated this election of representatives, a group of well-known people were elected through propaganda and speeches, while another group of predetermined personnel were nominated by the Huadong Chamber of Commerce, and they only needed to print dozens of photos and 200 business cards to be elected, without even showing up.

  There is also a batch of bribery elections, these are originally low in reputation and can be released on the surface.

  At the same time, the Beiyang clique led by Yuan Shikai was not interested in this election. After all, a group of military men were not enthusiastic about elections, and they still grasped military power to have the right to speak. In history, Yuan Shikai was one step ahead, directly dissolving the National Assembly.

  The central government's regulatory power over this election was handed down to the local county governments, and each party faction is using the local government to secretly manipulate.

  The Nationalist Party and the Republican Party are no exception. As a result, Jiang Yu also secretly manipulated the administrative network that had been built in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan provinces.

  Wujin County is no exception.

  As a result, the KMT was at a disadvantage from the start of the election in Wujin County and was dissatisfied with the outcome. They demanded a postponement of voting but were rejected by the local government of Wujin County. In anger, they sent party thugs to disrupt various polling stations.

  The first polling station in the county town's Minglun Hall was smashed, with doors and windows broken, tables and chairs overturned, ballot boxes destroyed, registers and ballots torn to pieces, and several administrators injured. Many polling stations in rural areas were also destroyed, voters fled in all directions, and only two of the ten polling stations in the county, the sixth and tenth, were spared, while the other eight were destroyed.

  Just as the KMT's party thugs were having a great time, the local armed police force in Wujin County was deployed. The armed police initially showed restraint and did not use violence, only attempting to disperse these party thugs.

  Those gangsters saw that the armed police did not dare to fight back, and their arrogance suddenly became rampant. The scene was chaotic, and these gangsters even launched an attack on the armed police force.

  One armed policeman couldn't bear it and fired at those gangsters, killing one on the spot.

  The scene suddenly boiled over, and those gangsters immediately launched a charge at the armed police.

  Just as the armed conflict was happening on the spot, a phone call came to Jiang Yu, and the director of the Armed Forces Department of Wujiang County reported the situation on the spot with a big sweat.

  "What the hell, are you out of your mind? These are gangsters, not students, do we need to call for instructions every time? The guns I gave you are for suppressing riots! Whoever dares to make trouble, I'll have them all suppressed. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility." Jiang Yu was furious and scolded the head of the Wujiang County Armed Forces Department severely.

  "Yes, yes, General, I understand." The head of the Armed Forces Department in Wu County was scolded, but he felt solid and didn't sweat anymore. He hung up the phone, straightened his waist, and at this time, the on-site armed police were squeezed by those gangsters to form a gap.

  As the gangsters were about to rush into polling station No. 6, the director of the armed department lifted the submachine gun hanging from his neck and aimed at a group of rushing gangsters, pulling the trigger.

  Boom boom boom boom boom...

  A string of intense gunfire later, more than a dozen gangsters fell to the ground and did not get up.

  It's getting serious!

  All the party thugs felt a sudden jolt in their hearts, and intense unease immediately arose in their minds.

  "These are all rioters and gangsters, take them all away." The armed department minister shouted loudly, "No one is allowed to move, those who resist arrest will be shot on the spot."

  Those armed police had been holding back their anger for a long time and as soon as they received the order from their superior, they immediately started arresting people.

  Those who were going to fight back were frightened, several who tried to escape were shot dead on the spot, and they were so scared that they had no choice but to squat on the ground with their heads in their hands, and then were arrested by the armed police.

  The use of violence during this election process was extremely common, even in relatively affluent Jiangsu province, let alone other provinces.

  The Kuomintang is the party that most venerates violence, and its organizational ability is also quite strong among all parties. The formation of such characteristics is mainly related to the intentional guidance and support of the Japanese. Venerating violence lies in destroying China's stability, and in terms of organizational ability, with the guidance of the Japanese, it has been greatly enhanced.

  The grassroots members of the Nationalist Party, under the influence of radical violence, although they feel patriotic, are actually harming their country and being used as guns by the Japanese.

  The KMT leadership, however, chose to collaborate with Japan, disregarding the destruction of China's stability in pursuit of their own political ambitions.

  Japan has also used this tactic of supporting revolutionary factions to disrupt enemy nations, as seen in Russia. Both Japan and Germany supported Russian revolutionaries, providing them with financial support, and during World War I, Lenin was even sent back to Russia by Germany.

  Japan and the Red Bear, on the other hand, countered China by supporting Sun Dapao. Although Japan had always provided support to Sun Dapao, it was relatively small-minded. However, Japan helped Sun Dapao establish a party with strong organizational capabilities. The Red Bear directly sold the fishing resources of the Far East region to Japan for 30 million yen and handed them over to Sun Dapao to counter the Northern Government's attempt to recover Outer Mongolia and Tannu Uriankhai.

  Sun Chuanfang, relying on his Hu You Shen Gong, combined with the strong organizational ability of the party formed under Japanese guidance, and the 30 million yuan worth of military equipment purchased, launched the Northern Expedition, and the Beiyang government was declared extinct.

  Sun Dapao and his followers were considered a chaotic party in the eyes of Jiang Yu, so they were suppressed without mercy.

  On that day, 16 Kuomintang party thugs were shot dead in Wujin County, and more than 100 people were arrested, all of whom were caught and thrown into prison.

  The Lianghuai Administrative Office has always severely cracked down on these gang forces, and the East China Chamber of Commerce has also recruited a batch.

  The gangs that were absorbed are not allowed to engage in some illegal activities, but only serve as the internal violent forces of the Huadong Chamber of Commerce when it is inconvenient for the government to take action.

  The Hongmen became the main target of the East China Merchant Association, while the Green Gang was identified by Jiang Yu as having a significant social harm due to its relatively tight organization and was severely cracked down.

  It is said that the Hongmen are a large group, while the Qingbang are a single line. Within the Hongmen, they call each other brothers and disciples, whereas the Qingbang have a master-apprentice relationship. Therefore, the Hongmen are not as secretive and it's also easier to recruit members.

  The Green Gang is too secretive and difficult to control.

  This time, the violent incident in Wujin County has allowed the Administrative Office of Huaiyang to eliminate a group of gang forces controlled by the Kuomintang.

  This violent behavior is also a normal farce for a traditional monarch to move towards a democratic country, and the so-called democracy is not as bright as it seems on the surface.

  Of course, after this incident, there was another round of scolding in the newspapers.

  The Nationalist Party's "Minli Bao" severely criticized the Two Huai Administrative Office for manipulating elections and despising public will, brutally suppressing the people.

  However, the circulation of "Minli Bao" was not very large. Apart from being distributed within the Kuomintang party, it could only be circulated in the Shanghai Concession area.

  In Shanghai County, the "Minli Newspaper" was indeed able to be issued, but after the "Minli Newspaper" criticized the suppression action in Wujin County, it was immediately suspended by the Shanghai County Government on the same day.

  However, the original text of the "Minli Bao" attack soon appeared in major newspapers, but when major newspapers published the original text, they also attached a pile of refuting comments, and at the same time, they brought out powerful evidence to prove that the group that stormed the polling station was a gangster force instructed by the Kuomintang.

  Liang Qichao, who had returned to China, also published a statement in support of the Two Huai Administrative Bureau, and indignantly referred to Sun's Nationalist Party as the "Insurrectionary Party". Liang himself had been beaten by the Nationalists before, and he was thoroughly disgusted with this violent party which had not an iota of gentlemanly spirit.

  Jiang Yu came to the Shanghai Huadong Commercial Building, where the Huadong Chamber of Commerce is located. This is also the headquarters of the Huadong Group.

  The scale of Huadong Chamber of Commerce has been expanding, with more and more members joining in. Many ethnic businessmen have been absorbed after examination.

  The high-level group consists of national businessmen such as Zhou Ziyue, Zhang Jie, Zhu Baosan, Huang Chujin, Rongshi brothers and You Xianjia, each with their own responsible areas, all cooperating with the Huadong Group.

  Jiang Yu and others arrived for inspection, Zhang Jue and others who were in charge of the operation of this election hurried out to greet them.

  After a few words of courtesy, Jiang Yu asked Zhang Jue: "How is the election going?"

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  The first update is here!