Chapter 52: Storming the Governor's Mansion

  Rui Cheng (full name 'Borjigit Rui Cheng', courtesy name Shanru, pseudonym Xinru, Borjigit clan, Beijing native, Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. Grand Secretary Borjigit Qi Shan's grandson, Heilongjiang General Borjigit Gong Heng's son. Late Qing politician, last Governor of Huguang.) let out a deep sigh, his heart filled with unspoken grievances and a sense of "if Yu was not born, how could Rong be". Thinking that although Rui Cheng was reckless and immature in his youth, doing some things that were considered unfilial, he was later known as one of the "Three Evil Youths of Beijing" along with Lao Zi Qiao and Cen Chunxuan. However, as the saying goes, "a prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold", later on he woke up and became a Gongsheng, entering the Ministry of Justice as a clerk, then promoted to be an assistant minister in the Ministry of Revenue. In 1906, he was appointed as the Intendant of Ji'an Circuit in Jiangxi Province, having a good reputation, he was then transferred to be the Intendant of Shanghai Circuit, responsible for dealing with foreign affairs. During his tenure, he was ordered to establish a police force within his jurisdiction. In 1908, he was promoted to be the Provincial Judge of Jiangxi, soon after he was transferred to be the Provincial Governor of Jiangsu. Later on, he served as the Pacification Commissioner of six places including Suzhou, Songjiang, Taicang, Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou, purchasing warships from foreign countries, organizing a riverine fleet, defeating the bandits in the Taihu Lake area, capturing the leaders Xia Zhu and Lin Shengwei. In 1909, he had disagreements with the Governor-General of Liangjiang Duan Fang, submitting his resignation to retire. The Qing court consoled him and promoted him to be the Provincial Governor of Jiangsu. During his tenure, he appreciated and cultivated Dai Jitao. At the same time, he maintained good relations with the leaders of the constitutional movement such as Zhang Jian and the powerful ministers such as Zai Ze, gaining a reputation. In 1910, he was promoted again to be the Governor-General of Huguang. In October, he joined forces with Xi Liang and other governors and governors-general of eighteen provinces to send a telegram to the Grand Council, requesting the immediate opening of the National Assembly and the establishment of a responsible cabinet. In 1911, Rui Cheng proposed the construction of the Sichuan-Han railway in order to compete with Duan Fang who had been transferred to be the Governor-General of Sichuan, he was appointed as the Director-general. However, the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement broke out, Rui Cheng adopted the suggestion of Zhang Biao, the commander of the 8th Division of the New Army, dispatching troops from Hubei to follow Duan Fang into Sichuan to quell the unrest and prepare for a military campaign in Sichuan. On August 19 (October 9), the Russian concession police in Hankou discovered a secret base of the Wuchang revolutionary party, seizing a list of party members which included many military personnel. The Russian side handed over the materials to the Qing government. Chen Shuping, the Provincial Governor of Hubei suggested destroying the list to calm the people's minds, while Zhang Meisheng, the private secretary of the Governor-General strongly advised Rui Cheng to arrest those on the list, Rui Cheng listened to Zhang's advice and captured thirty-two people, executing Peng Liu Yang and two others, taking photographs of their executions which were widely distributed in the city. This move intimidated the New Army for a time but also caused them to become disaffected, leading to the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising today.

  Next to the steward naturally knew why his master sighed. Since he was transferred to Hubei as the governor of Huguang two years ago, he has been restricted by Zhang Biao everywhere, causing him to lose almost all military and political power in the province when he took over as the governor of Huguang. How could he tolerate it with his high self-esteem? Naturally, he also hated Zhang Zhidong! Recently, the military morale in the province has been unstable, and the eyes of the governor's office have repeatedly reported that the new army is unstable. However, Zhang Biao did not give him any opportunity to take control of the situation, tightly holding onto his position as the commander-in-chief of Hubei. Even if something happened, it was because he refused to pursue the case involving the new army, and thus suppressed the incident. Otherwise, with Rui Cheng's methods, he would not have stopped until blood flowed like rivers, letting those Han people know who the real master of this world is!

  But then again, in the first two years of Guangxu's reign, both Emperor Guangxu and that master passed away one after another. After this great empire lost two powerful men with enough prestige to control it, relying on the regent king and those inexperienced new nobles from the Manchu Qing dynasty, just look at their clumsy political means and you'll know. They infuriated Zhang Zhidong and offended Yuan Shikai, causing the two strongest pillars of the Qing Dynasty to collapse, and all sorts of contradictions that were originally about to be suppressed suddenly emerged, this Qing Dynasty is really hard to stand upright.

  Liu Guan Jia was originally a frustrated scholar, following Rui Ceng for so many years, reading more books than ever before. In some cases, he even saw things clearer than Rui Ceng did. He secretly sighed in his heart that the Qing dynasty might not last much longer. The old master is such an intelligent person, how could he not think of it? However, as a Manchu bannerman, how could he admit to letting the Han people, whom he considered inferior, seize power?

  However, he also knew that the governor of Hubei who was most satisfactory to his own master was actually - the capable and mixed 21st Brigade Commander-in-Chief Li Yuanhong. Although he did not want to admit it, he also understood in his heart that the Manchu banner people had long since rotted to the bone, let alone finding someone who could take charge of a provincial military government. Even if they wanted to compete for a regimental commander, they found that there were no suitable clan children available. Some capable people in the province either joined the gang or relied on Zhang Zhidong's protection, and usually followed Zhang Biao's lead, often hindering him. In the end, after careful consideration, the remaining choices were limited!

  There were still a few people in his mind who were quite concerned, but Rui Cheng's several recruitment attempts were all rejected by them. It is said that recently some people have begun to secretly study the economic and political systems of foreigners, which made Rui Cheng, who was extremely disgusted with those foreigners, unhappy and gave up the idea of recruiting them!

  "Old master, this cannon sound seems somewhat off?"

  Just as Rui and Liu were lost in thought, a personal bodyguard who had been with him for many years turned pale. He had figured it out - the cannon fire seemed off, not directed at the rebels, but rather...the shells seemed to have landed on the outer wall of the governor's office. What was going on?

  "Speak!"

  His train of thought was interrupted, and Rui Cang was slightly displeased, frowning at him for a moment. However, he had always been kind to his subordinates, so he allowed the guard to speak up if he had any doubts!

  "Sir, listen to the cannon fire... it seems to be bombarding our backyard?!" The guard said in confusion, listening to the rumbling cannon fire so close, the direction of the explosion doesn't seem to be from the rebel army trapped outside the city gate.

  "What?"

  Rui Cheng heard him say that, and suddenly his heart was also in a state of panic! Due to good maintenance over time, although he had reached an advanced age (at the end of the Qing dynasty, 50 years old was already considered old), but his ears were still sharp. Listening carefully, wasn't the direction of the bombing exactly the front courtyard wall of this Governor's Mansion?

  Rui Cheng and Liu Guan's family exchanged a glance, and suddenly both of them had an extremely uneasy feeling in their hearts, always feeling that... it seemed like something was wrong!

  "Adults...adults...it's no good..."

  A distant commotion could be heard from outside, as if someone was shouting.

  "Boom!"

  Just as Rui was about to arrange for someone to go and take a look at the situation, a stray shell suddenly flew over the front yard and landed on one side of the central hall of this mansion. With a loud bang, the bomb exploded, and in an instant, the people inside stumbled and almost fell due to the shockwave!

  "Cough, cough, cough..."

  A fit of urgent coughs, and the room was instantly enveloped in dust shaken down from the beams!

  "Master... Master, are you alright?"

  "Adult..."

  Several people in the house immediately shielded Rui from behind at the moment of the explosion! At this time, everyone's heart began to feel a little panicked and uneasy. Why did shells fall within the Governor's Mansion? Was it the rebel army's artillery? Where is Zhang Biao...

  Thinking of this, the people present felt a chill run down their spines. Although there were still over a hundred guards left in the yamen, they were only equipped with some firearms and were mostly just decorative attendants who received some training on ordinary days. If they really had to fight against the rebels who possessed heavy firepower like cannons, unless the Qing soldiers who were clearing out other rebel strongholds in the city arrived in time or Zhang Biao came to their aid with his troops, it was uncertain how much fighting strength the hundred-odd people left behind in the yamen would have once the rebels' cannons started firing...

  "Sir, it's not good! The new army... no, the rebel army is here! They've brought eight big cannons and the wall in front of the governor's office has already collapsed. Liu's team on the left just sent someone to report that the 29th battalion of rebels suddenly joined the attack. They can't spare anyone to come and reinforce us for now... The situation is similar at other places... And the patrol camp has been defeated... They're going to break into the governor's mansion! Sir, let's retreat quickly..."

  The shell's shock to the crowd hadn't dissipated yet, when the soldier who had previously shouted "Something's wrong!" and come to report stumbled into the house in disarray, and with a thud knelt down in front of Rui Cang, bursting into tears!

  "Boom!"

  The sound of something heavy hitting the ground, hearing the bad news coming, Rui Ceng only felt a blackness in front of her eyes, and suddenly her body stumbled and fell unconscious!

  "Sir... Sir, you can't faint..."

  "Master... Master, don't scare me like that..."

  "Old master... wake up quickly"

  "Hurry... hurry and invite Old Lady and the others to come together. Let's take advantage of the rebel army in the city not having surrounded the government office yet, and quickly withdraw..."

  It is...