Chapter Seventeen: The Change in Historical Trajectory

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  The gatekeeper uncle looked at the Shanghai fermented bean curd, rice cakes and five-spice beans handed over by Xu Shao Wen. These are not common in Beijing, and his mouth began to water. He smiled and said: "Wen Yuan and Wen Han are really polite, no wonder the head of teaching affairs has been asking about your return these two days."

  "Dean of Studies asked us back? What does that mean?" Xu Shao Wen asked in confusion.

  "You were sent out for external education, of course you don't know about the new situation in Beijing," said Gatekeeper Uncle to Li Zhenning and Xu Shaowen, "Four days ago, the Chief of the Army Department, Duan Zhongchang, and the Chief of Staff, Lei Zongyu, passed a resolution to select dozens of students from military academies and colleges in northern provinces, directly grant them officer ranks, and then assign their duties."

  Xu Shaowen and Li Zhenning looked at each other in surprise, they had both heard the news in Shanghai, but didn't expect it to be passed so quickly through a resolution.

  "Is there such a thing? Is someone urgently needed here in the Central Department?" Xu Shaowen asked, although he already knew the answer, but still wanted to clarify the inside story.

  "It's not that," said the gatekeeper, his expression gradually becoming serious. "There's a big commotion in the south, it's all rumors that the president is going to sign something called the 'Twenty-One Demands' with Japan, but the president and Japan have no basis for this at all, I suppose the south is just making a big deal out of nothing."

  Xu Shao Wen was well aware that from the end of 1914 to the beginning of 1916, Yuan Shikai and Japan had been in secret negotiations over the Twenty-One Demands. However, Yuan knew that several clauses in the Twenty-One Demands were humiliating and damaging to China's sovereignty, so he dared not sign them. At the same time, he deliberately leaked the contents of the secret negotiations and the Twenty-One Demands, hoping to get the intervention of Britain, France, and the United States.

  Yuan Shikai as a Chinese still had a clear stance, unlike his successor Duan Qirui, Old Yuan did not dare to sign but suddenly signed everything.

  However, it is now 1914, and the national wind of the "Twenty-One Demands" can be considered at most half-understood, and has not yet reached such a strong level. How could the southern warlords and the Guangzhou government have protested so strongly?

  "What's new in the South?" Xu Shaowen asked immediately.

  "Half a month ago, the Guangzhou government began to expand its military strength. I heard that Sun Wen has already drafted the formation of two armies and is publishing recruitment notices in newspapers across the country." Gatekeeper Big Uncle said with a somewhat solemn expression, "I saw this newspaper just the day before yesterday."

  Xu Shaowen suddenly realized that Zhang Jingjiang's $59 million profit from the arms trade, minus the $9 million he gave to himself, was likely all donated to the Guangzhou government as revolutionary funds. Five hundred million dollars is no small sum, enough to make the Guangzhou government a dominant force in the south overnight. Now things are looking up, his own arrogance in Shanghai has caused history to deviate from its course.

  "It turns out that's the case, but Sun Wen's bold move is actually publishing a recruitment notice in the newspaper. Isn't this too reckless? Isn't this openly declaring war on the Beiyang government? The Beiyang government must have started making preparations early." Next to him, Li Zhenning said with some sighs, his eyebrows furrowed and his face didn't look good, it was clear that this rich young master wasn't a warmonger.

  "This is a way of mobilization, the Guangzhou government has never had its own army until now, but every time it can get support from all over the country through mobilization," Xu Shaowen does not think that Sun Wen is intentionally exposing the intention of the south. He said, "This time, the newspaper recruits soldiers, on the one hand, to gather patriots from all over the country to join the army in Guangzhou, and on the other hand, it is another call for national support for the Guangzhou government."

  "So, the Grand President is very uneasy about the recent disturbances in the South and has sent many trusted officials from the central government to supervise military affairs locally. Moreover, Jiangxi and Jiangsu have already begun to mobilize troops, it seems that this matter will not be easily settled."

  "What did the Dean of Studies want with us?" Xu Shaowen asked again.

  "This I'm not quite clear about, the Dean of Studies has been coming to ask every day if you two have returned. Just now, he came again this morning and instructed me that as soon as you return, I should immediately let you go to his office to find him." The dormitory supervisor said, his expression suddenly becoming mysterious, "However, I guess it's definitely related to the central government's plan to recruit talent from military schools."

  "Maybe, let's go now." Xu Shao Wen heard that Jiang Shou Qi had been looking for him these past few days and knew it must be an urgent matter, so he didn't delay any further. He and Li Zhen Ning bid farewell to the gatekeeper uncle and headed to the Dean of Studies' office.

  The campus was much quieter, and many teachers had also chosen to go home during this period. The once lively playground now had a desolate feel to it. After passing through the playground, I arrived at the area where the teachers' dormitories were located. A few teachers were gathered together chatting about something, while the door to the principal's office was slightly ajar, indicating that Jiang Shouqi was still inside.

  Xu Shaowen walked in front, knocked on the slightly ajar door of the Dean's office and said: "Student Xu Shaowen from the Physical Education Department requests to see you."

  It was just noon, Jiang Shouqi was eating in the office when he heard Xu Shaowen knock on the door. He put down his chopsticks and walked to the door to open it. He saw Xu Shaowen and Li Zhenning standing outside, and warmly greeted them: "You two have finally returned, come in, come in, have you eaten lunch?"

  "The Dean has a good heart. After getting off the train, Wenhan and I had dinner in town." Xu Shaowen smiled and replied.

  Li Zhenning took out some local products he had brought from Shanghai and said, "Dean of Studies, these are some things we brought back from Shanghai. Although they're not very valuable, it's just a token of our appreciation."

  "You're really thoughtful." Jiang Shouqi knew that Li Zhenning was a rich young master, so he didn't stand on ceremony either. He took the Shanghai snacks handed over by Li Zhenning and said, "Come on, sit down first."

  Xu Shaowen and Li Zhenning sat down on the sofa in the office living room.

  "These past few days, I've been waiting for you guys to come back," Jiang Shouqi smiled and poured open water for Li Zhenning and Xu Shaowen, then sat down across from them. "You were in Shanghai, so maybe you're not too clear on the situation here in Beijing."

  "Oh, I just heard Uncle Men Jian say that the situation in the North and South is unclear now." Xu Shao Wen sighed, of course he knew that this sigh was somewhat pretentious, whether it was the Beiyang government or the Guangzhou government, he had no intention of taking sides at present.

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  Collecting, thank you, thank you!