Chapter 38 The British Consul

  "This Chen Jingyun, quietly came up with this telegram!" Huang Xing smiled and held the telegram in his hand, his tired face still couldn't hide the joy on his face.

  As a staunch revolutionary, Huang Xing, a loyal follower of Sun Yat-sen, had always regarded revolution as his lifelong career. In his heart, he wanted to launch the Northern Expedition and capture Beijing more than anyone else, but reality often fell short of expectations.

  Others may not be clear, but as the commander-in-chief, Huang Xing was very clear that at this moment, the Hubei militia was so fragile that it could be called a mob.

  The newspaper says every day that Huang Xing came and lost the battle, as soon as he took over the command of the officer, Hankou was lost. However, they never mentioned that the main force of the Hubei people's army, the new soldiers of the original eighth town, had already been exhausted in the tug-of-war with the Beiyang Army near Liujiatun before Huang Xing took over the command, and he faced tens of thousands of newly recruited soldiers when he took over.

  After the defeat at Hankou, Huang Xing made great efforts to rectify military affairs and temporarily stabilized the situation. Even so, he was not very confident about defending the three towns of Wuhan, so when he heard that the 9th Division's attack on Nanjing had failed, Huang Xing lost hope for a southern victory. As a high-ranking member of the Tongmenghui, he knew that although most provinces in the south had been restored, except for Jiao Dafeng's dispatch of an aid-Hubei army, other provinces were either watching from the sidelines or lacked the ability to provide support. In other words, at present, he was relying solely on Hubei to resist the Beiyang government.

  As for the integration of Southern forces, he himself did not believe it. If they continued, it would be equivalent to the Allied Forces integrating the various provinces in the South, and Hubei would be finished. Jiangsu was also having a hard time, with the Tianjin-Pukou Railway allowing the Northern Expeditionary Army to march south at any time. It was precisely because he foresaw the crisis in Jiangsu and Hubei that Huang Xing came up with the idea of seeking peace.

  As for who becomes the president, it is not important at present, as long as a republic can be established. Whoever becomes the president will make no difference, even if Yuan Shikai becomes the president in the future, his power can still be restricted through parliament and the cabinet.

  Based on this, Huang Xing sent a signal to Yuan Shikai for reconciliation. After sending the letter, he already knew that many party members were dissatisfied with his actions. However, he did not expect that within half a day, Chen Jingyun from Fujian would issue a telegram supporting his proposal and even explicitly stated that as long as Yuan Shikai could send the Qing dynasty to the dustbin of history, they would support him as the President.

  "Huang Xing handed the telegram to Song Jiaoren, who nodded after reading it: 'It seems that there are still people who think like you!'"

  "It's a pity that many people don't understand! In their view, revolution should be about overthrowing all existing things, but they don't realize that revolution is for making China rich and strong!" Huang Xing took a deep breath: "As long as we can get a republic, what does it matter if Yuan Shikai becomes the president?"

  Song Jiaoren said: "It's reasonable. When the time comes to form a responsible cabinet, what's wrong with giving up the presidency?"

  "Now that you mention it, Song Jiaoren's tone changed: "Now the war is tense, and Fujian has been liberated for twenty days as the second province. Can't he send out the Fujian Army?"

  Huang Xing said: "As for the reinforcements, I had asked about it in a telegram before, but they replied that there were only three brigades and one battalion on their side. The three brigades have all been dispatched to various parts of Fujian, and Fuzhou has only one battalion's worth of troops! With so few men, I'm afraid it won't even be enough to intimidate the province!"

  "How can there be so few? I remember that other provinces have at least 20,000 to 30,000 people, and some even have 50,000 to 60,000!" Song Jiaoren was somewhat puzzled: "Now that the situation is tense, why didn't Chen Jingyun recruit more?"

  Huang Xing knew that Song Jiaoren was a pure politician, unfamiliar with military affairs, so he explained: "Fujian has always been poor, and the previous 10th Division was also nominal. Only ten infantry regiments were in good shape, and there were no armories on the Fujian side, and the finances had no money, so it's naturally not easy to expand the army."

  Huang Xing had no idea that Chen Jingyun had such a strong determination to expand the army, although the current financial situation is very poor, but hundreds of millions of military orders have already been placed, and the six regiments and two battalions planned are all fully equipped, taking the route of elite troops against the Beiyang Army. It's not like other provinces where people are pulled over, then randomly given an old rifle, or even a muzzle-loading gun, to make up the numbers.

  "No matter what, let's send a telegram to ask anyway. Hubei is too far for them to come, but Jiangsu is possible!" Huang Xing thought it was still worth asking again, even though he didn't have much hope.

  At this time, in the Fujian Governor's Office, Chen Jingyun was receiving an important guest - British Consul to Fuzhou, O. J. Jones.

  Fuzhou, as one of the first five ports opened by the Qing government, is also one of the earliest cities to host consulates of various countries. So far, there are 15 consulates of different sizes in Fuzhou, most of which are at the level of consul general. In view of the complexity and importance of diplomacy, Chen Jingyun dispatched troops to guard the consulate area on the night of the uprising in Fuzhou, precisely to prevent the rioting soldiers from attacking the consulate area and causing a diplomatic incident.

  After Fuzhou was recovered, Chen Jingyun was busy with military and financial affairs. There was no time to deal with those professional diplomats who were good at talking. So he decided not to provoke those foreigners for the time being and only sent Lin Changming, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to handle routine diplomatic matters.

  However, today British Consul Odo Jones asked to see Chen Jingyun again, saying that it was a matter of British interests in Fujian and he must see Chen Jingyun. Lin Changming did not dare to block him either, so he reported to Chen Jingyun.

  "He wants to meet, then so be it!" Twenty days have passed since Fujian was recovered, and the Southern Republican government has become a fait accompli. The subsequent peace talks between the North and South won't change much, and after so many days of military action in Fujian, Chen Jingyun has basically controlled most of Fujian with the Nationalist Army, leaving only Xu Jingqing still holed up in Jianning area. Although the civil administration of the Military Government is not great, at least they have stabilized the situation.

  At this time, it is also necessary to withdraw our gaze from within Fujian Province and take a look at the outside world.

  "General! You're much younger than I imagined!" Odie Jones had just seen Chen Jingyun, and after a flash of surprise in his eyes, he walked in with a smile.

  Chen Jingyun took a close look at Odo Jones, who was much taller than the average Easterner of this era. He had a slightly plump build and wore a tailcoat, with a civilized cane in his hand. At this moment, he had already taken off his top hat.

  "Consul, you're much younger than I imagined!" Chen Jingyun also put on a professional smile and quickly replied in English. This was not a formal diplomatic occasion, just a private conversation between the two of them, so it was more convenient to communicate in a language they both understood.

  "Haha, I'm not young anymore!" Odu Jonson didn't find it strange to hear Chen Jingyun respond in English. Although there weren't many Chinese people who understood English at that time, there were absolutely not a few either.

  "I don't know what brings Consul Mr. this time?" Chen Jingyun asked while sipping tea.

  "General, I've come mainly to ask you a few questions!" said O'Doyle Jones.

  "Oh?" Chen Jingyun was somewhat displeased with Odo Jones's obviously accusatory tone.

  "First of all, we need to know whether the military government will guarantee the interests of British businessmen and expatriates!" Odie Jones asked.

  Chen Jingyun replied: "Without a doubt, the military government, whether in the past, present or future, will guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of all foreigners in Fujian, including those from Britain!"

  Upon hearing this, Odie Jones said with satisfaction: "May I know when the National Army will lift the blockade order on the Embassy District?"

  The blockade order in the mouth of O'Donovan was issued after Fuzhou was recovered, and it was implemented very strictly for the first few days. However, it was later lifted inside the city, but the garrison troops were deployed to defend key areas in Fuzhou, prohibiting ordinary people from passing through, including the Cangqian Mountain Embassy District. Of course, in order to avoid diplomatic disputes, the curfew order did not include foreigners, but only targeted Chinese people. Without permission, no Chinese person was allowed to enter the embassy district. This ensured that the rioting soldiers could not disturb the embassy district and prevented a large number of Qing officials from escaping into the embassy district. However, after the Chinese were prohibited from entering the embassy district, the foreigners living in the embassy district also suffered great inconvenience in their daily lives.

  Chen Jingyun felt that it was still necessary to continue blocking the embassy district, after all, there were still many Manchu nobles who had not been caught. If they were allowed to escape into the embassy district, it would be troublesome. However, he also wanted to differentiate treatment, so he said: "I can order the lifting of the blockade, but in order to ensure the safety of foreign friends, I will still have to deploy a considerable number of guard troops in important areas!"

  O'Donoghue was already satisfied with this, the Chinese blockade line was on the outer periphery of the embassy district and only targeted Chinese people. For the embassy district, it was just inconvenient to live, let alone saying that the army nearby had threats, O'Donoghue didn't worry at all. Anyway, deep in Fuzhou inland, the distance between the National Army and the embassy district was one hundred meters or ten kilometers made no essential difference.

  "Because of the war in Fujian, our country's businessmen have already suffered heavy losses. We want to know when the military government can guarantee the safety of the entire province so that our country's commercial activities can proceed normally!"

  Chen Jingyun furrowed his brow after hearing this: "At present, our army has cleared out most of the Qing army's forces, and each department is currently mopping up the remaining Qing troops and bandits. Your Excellency need not worry!"

  As for Chen Jingyun's frown, Odo Jones seemed not to have seen it at all, and instead continued: "This is the best, I hope that the war will not affect normal business activities!"

  Odell Jones paused and looked at Chen Jingyun, "We received news that the General purchased military equipment worth hundreds of millions from Germany, I wonder if this is true?"

  Upon hearing this, Chen Jingyun quickly flashed through several thoughts: He wanted to know that the arms deal was not difficult, but why did he ask this question? Was it because the German arms entering Fujian would affect their interests? Did they want to obstruct them?