Insufficient balance

  Sun Dao Ren's words made Chen Jing Yun even more puzzled! You, Sun Dao Ren, want to give me tea leaves and invite me to dinner, this is a normal way of winning over subordinates, it's not a big deal. But how did the relationship between superiors and subordinates get dragged into your wife? It's worth noting that in-laws are usually not outsiders, and Chen Jing Yun had only seen Sun's wife a few times over the years, let alone his other in-laws whom he had hardly laid eyes on.

  Seeing Chen Jingyun's unusual expression, Sun Daoren also looked somewhat embarrassed and immediately said: "Let's talk about it tomorrow, we have to go to the Governor's Mansion later, you can go back to the military camp first! It's important to calm down those big-headed soldiers!"

  However, when Chen Jingyun got up and was about to go out, Sun Daoren said again: "Tomorrow it's best to bring some Osmanthus cake from Beicheng Yangji!"

  With this inexplicable sentence, Chen Jingyun left the town commander's office in a daze and still couldn't understand why Sun Daoren would do so. Was he trying to win over his subordinates? It didn't seem like it! Hmm, had he taken a liking to himself and was preparing to make him his son-in-law? That was also impossible, as far as Chen Jingyun knew, Sun Daoren had two daughters, but they were both already married, so it had nothing to do with Chen Jingyun. So why did he...

  Chen Jingyun and Lin Chengkun, with a hint of doubt in their hearts, headed towards the South Campus, where they gave orders to recall the 38th Battalion's 3rd Regiment from Fuan County, Funing Prefecture, back to Fuzhou. After that, they personally inspected the barracks and comforted the soldiers.

  As dusk approached, news of the Wuchang Uprising had already spread into the military camp. As expected, there were many dissenting voices in the camp, and even the word "revolution" occasionally reached Chen Jingyun's ears. However, due to previous emergency arrangements, the officers calmed the soldiers' emotions, and with the camp gates closed and ammunition recalled in advance, the situation was stabilized.

  Of course, Chen Jingyun did not know that the revolutionary party played a significant role in this process.

  As night fell, in one of the barracks, under the dim light of an oil lamp, sat six or seven young officers. If Chen Jingyun were here, he would definitely recognize most of them.

  The first one was Lin Wenyin of the Engineering Corps. The others were also low- to mid-ranking officers. Only one of them said, "Brother Lin, are you sure Chen Jingyun said that?"

  Lin Wenyi nodded and said: "Absolutely true! Chen Jingyun clearly stated at the time that Brother Jue Min was a righteous man!"

  Another person immediately said: "In that case, Chen Jingyun may have a revolutionary heart after all!"

  "Fart!" A somewhat dark-skinned officer said: "At the beginning of the year, when Lin Hao went to see him, he was driven out. If he hadn't run fast, I'm afraid he would have been caught!"

  "Right, we've been trying to win over Chen Jingyun for a long time, but he's been stubborn and unyielding all these years. Now you're saying he's changed his attitude? I'm the first one who doesn't believe it!" someone else chimed in.

  But Lin Wenyin pondered for a moment and said, "You say, could it be because of the uprising in Wuchang, so Chen Jingyun doesn't think much of the Tartars, so he's looking for an alternative route!"

  After these words were spoken, several people inside fell into deep thought.

  "It's possible that Chen Jingyun is a bit stubborn, but he has a family and won't follow the Manchu people to death. Besides, as someone who has returned from studying abroad, he must have some sympathy for the revolution, otherwise he wouldn't have tolerated us for so many years!"

  "If we can win him over, there's hope for Fuzhou's recovery!"

  "It's true, if we want to retake Fuzhou, the second battalion is crucial, but this second battalion has been controlled by Chen Jingyun for so many years, from top to bottom are his people, although we also have people inside, but they can't play a role! So if we want to retake Fuzhou, we must win over the second battalion!" Another person came out to support and persuade Chen Jingyun.

  Everyone nodded after hearing this.

  Lin Wenyin said: "Alright, we'll send someone else to make contact. If that doesn't work, kill him before the uprising!"

  After finishing speaking, he turned his head and glanced at the others: "Now that the Tongmenghui has successfully recovered Wuchang, the flames of revolution have already been ignited on this land of China. It won't be long before large-scale uprisings break out in various provinces, and the recovery of Fujian will depend on our Tongmenghui! Gentlemen, for thousands of years, Chinese civilization has suffered from the poison of the Manchu dynasty for over 200 years. In recent decades, the Manchu dynasty has continued to lose power and mismanage the country, not only allowing Westerners to bully us at our doorstep but also letting Japanese pirates seize our Korea. At this moment, China is at its most critical juncture! This land of China is calling upon us, yearning for us to bring it wealth and strength, yearning for us to restore the grandeur of the Han and Tang dynasties. The 40 million compatriots are calling upon us, the people are yearning for us to bring them freedom, yearning for us to lead them to a life of prosperity.

  Although the road ahead is winding, we revolutionaries should be fearless, using our cries to awaken this nation, and our blood to awaken these people!

  After this passionate speech, the young people below were already flushed with excitement!

  "If we can establish a prosperous and powerful nation, and revive the splendor of the Han and Tang dynasties, I would be willing to die for it!" Lin Wenyin's tone gradually slowed down as she said this, her eyes already somewhat hollow, as if fantasizing about what the scene would be like if the revolution succeeded and the country became rich and strong.

  Lin Wenyin, who has already fallen into fantasy, would not know that after the Xinhai Revolution, this country did not usher in the prosperity and strength expected by many revolutionaries, but instead ushered in decades of warlord infighting, and later even more casualties among soldiers and civilians due to the invasion of the Japanese army.

  The four words "prosperous country and strong nation" are a joke!

  Several others were also moved by Lin Wenyin's words and couldn't help but get excited for a while, calming down only after a long time.

  Lin Wenyin said: "The future is full of hope, but the road ahead is winding, you all need to comfort the revolutionary comrades below, and must not be impatient for a moment's courage."

  "How much longer do we have to wait?"

  "It's almost time, it would be best if we can win over Chen Jingyun, if not, then we'll do it ourselves!" Lin Wenyin took a deep breath: "At that time, I will lead the Engineering Regiment as the main force to rise up first!"

  Afterwards, someone immediately said: "You say, shouldn't this matter be discussed with the people from Xingzhonghui and Gongjinhui?"

  But Lin Wenyin shook his head and said, "Not for the time being. After a thorough cleanup at the beginning of the year, Gongzhonghui has little power in Fujian Province. If we talk about it now, I'm afraid the news will leak out! As for Xingzhonghui, Xu Chongzhi was sent to Shaowu by Sun Daoren this afternoon, and without him, Xingzhonghui is just a loose sand, useless!"

  "The victory of the revolution is at hand, and when the time comes for national recovery, we will overthrow the Manchu government, establish a republic, and all become famous in history as great heroes of the nation!" Although the speaker lowered his voice, he still revealed that tone which could bewitch people's minds.

  Eternal glory, national hero, these eight words have ignited the atmosphere of these young officers!

  "Right, we will definitely succeed!"

  Tonight's Fuzhou is destined to be unquiet.

  After finishing the inspection of the barracks, Chen Jingyun returned to his living quarters in the command center. It was already past 7 pm, and he had no intention of going home tonight, opting instead to stay at the military camp. Given the tense situation, it was more prudent to remain stationed there. After taking a hot bath, he didn't rush to rest but rather opened up a map of Fuzhou City, studying how to occupy the city in the future. In addition, Chen Jingyun was also carefully recalling some useful information.

  Time had slowly passed by unnoticed, and it wasn't until after 10 o'clock at night that he finally put down his pen. The manuscript paper in front of him was filled with writing, but it wasn't a battle plan or anything like that - instead, it was about military technology.

  Chen Jingyun didn't know much about military technology, but he knew some common things like automatic rifles, airplanes, tanks and cannons. However, these things were still too far away for China at that time.

  What is needed now is not a tank, nor an aircraft carrier that transcends the times, but rifles, heavy machine guns, and artillery support for the army. In addition to quality, what is more important for military equipment is reliability, stability, and sufficient cheapness. For example, domestically produced Hanyang rifles are quite in line with the current national conditions. With a large number of cheap and reliable rifles, plus heavy machine guns, it's basically possible to form an infantry regiment. If you add a certain number of 75mm infantry artillery, that would be even better. You don't need many divisions, just being able to do what the Beiyang Six Towns did with thirty-six field guns and eighteen mountain guns would be enough. Sweeping across China may not be possible, but at least it could counter the Beiyang Six Towns.

  However, the artillery is too expensive. To fully equip an artillery battalion, just the fifty-four 75mm cannons would cost over a million silver coins. And to make these fifty-four cannons fire effectively, you'd have to let the soldiers practice firing at least ten rounds of live ammunition each, plus provide hundreds of rounds for each cannon as reserve ammo for battle - that's another nearly million silver coins just for the ammo. Not to mention the salaries of over a thousand men and the horses used to pull the cannons! It's already expensive in peacetime, but during wartime it's even more wasteful - every shot fired is like throwing silver coins at the enemy's head.

  However, artillery is expensive and can't be dispensed with; otherwise, we'll just have to wait for being bombed and shot.

  Since the field gun is so expensive but cannot be dispensed with, Chen Jingyun has turned his attention to the mortar. According to legend, this mortar has simple technology and considerable power, making it the most suitable for fire support below the regiment level. Of course, the key point is that this thing is not only simple in technology but also cheap! In the absence of a large number of 75mm infantry guns, using a large number of mortars to enhance artillery firepower is a good choice.

  If you add something like a grenade launcher and a hand grenade array, it's probably about done!

  When Chen Jingyun was fantasizing about how he would train his troops and develop military industries when he became a warlord in the future, there was a knock at the door.

  As soon as the door opened, it turned out to be Lin Chengkun. He looked sneaky and suspicious. Chen Jingyun felt a bit annoyed when he saw him like this. After all, he was also a new army officer who had studied at a modern military academy, so why did he look so sneaky?

  "What's with the hesitation? Come on in!" As soon as Chen Jingyun said this, Lin Chengkun finally walked in.

  "Sir, I've gone to ask around!" Lin Chengkun lowered his voice.

  "Oh!" Chen Jingyun also knew that Lin Chengkun was talking about the Revolutionary Party: "You've been in contact with them!"

  Lin Chengkun nodded: "In the evening I contacted them and had dinner together, and according to your instructions, I gave them a hint!"

  Chen Jingyun said: "Oh, what does their alliance say!"

  When Chen Jingyun mentioned the alliance, Lin Chengkun was taken aback at first, then seemed to recall something: "They are Gongjin Hui! But it's not wrong to call them Tongmeng Hui either!"

  "It doesn't matter anyway, who have you seen?" Chen Jingyun knew a bit about the alliance, knowing that it was just a loose political alliance that would disintegrate completely after the Xinhai Revolution.

  "I met one of them, a man with the surname Liu. I heard he was an editor for some newspaper. I was afraid he would misunderstand me, so I didn't ask him about his identity in detail! He said that if high-ranking military officers like you joined the revolution, he couldn't be the leader, but he would report it!" Lin Chengkun said.

  Chen Jingyun nodded, since he dared to let Lin Chengkun contact the revolutionary party, it means that he knew those revolutionaries would not refuse him for the sake of a successful revolution. After all, they could even make a gangster like Huizheng into a fellow revolutionary, and Chen was a dignified new army officer with thousands of troops under his command, so he didn't believe they wouldn't try to win him over.

  "Good job! Keep in touch with them and make it quick, best to get it done within these few days!" Chen Jingyun was really afraid of letting things drag on, after all, the Wuchang Revolution had already occurred in most southern provinces, and Fujian wouldn't be far behind. He needed to get ahead of those people, at least to ensure his own troops were secure. If things went well, becoming a division commander or something similar was within reach.

  "Right, they also said that if you, sir, can take action, they can also provide a response to the restoration!" Lin Chengkun said something that Chen Jingyun did not expect.

  "Restore the light!" The word sounded a bit strange, Chen Jingyun asked in confusion: "Bribe? How much do they plan to give?"

  But Lin Chengkun said: "This announcement is for those soldiers below, as for the adults on this side, they haven't spoken yet!"

  "It's all the same, doesn't matter to me, how much can their so-called restoration really achieve?" Chen Jingyun now has no great desire for wealth. Even if the revolutionaries sent him tens of thousands of yuan, Chen Jingyun would likely use it to buy people's hearts and purchase weapons.

  "This number!" Lin Chengkun raised three fingers.

  "Three hundred thousand?" Chen Jingyun asked tentatively.

  Lin Chengkun shook his head.

  "Thirty thousand?"

  Lin Chengkun continued shaking his head.

  Chen Jingyun was puzzled: "Is it 3 million? Are these revolutionaries so rich?"

  Lin Chengkun's face turned pale: "It's three thousand! Three thousand dollars!"

  As soon as he heard the three thousand, Chen Jingyun couldn't help but sneer: "Sending away beggars? Three thousand, even a low-ranking officer gets tens or hundreds of yuan in monthly salary, and even a big-headed soldier gets eight blocks a month. What's the use of this three thousand?" Chen Jingyun originally wanted to continue saying that a 75-style mountain cannon would cost several tens of thousands!

  Lin Chengkun immediately expressed his great approval, saying: "At that time, I also said the same to him. Later, he said that if the adults really could do something, then he would contact the superiors and raise more military expenses!"

  Chen Jingyun waved his hand: "You continue to talk to him, this Qing court is useless, but it won't collapse for the time being. I'll give you a few more days to negotiate and get the military salary, hmm, what they call the 'Guangfu' response, at least tens of millions, otherwise after this incident, we can't even pay one month's military salary. Of course, the more the better. It depends on your own efforts!"

  "I know, I see that those revolutionaries are quite wealthy. It's said that they've raised funds overseas in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, so it should be possible for them to take out 200,000 or 300,000 yuan!" Lin Chengkun also felt that the 3,000 yuan was indeed too little; not long ago, one of his uncles had spent more than 3,000 yuan to redeem a prostitute.

  Besides, it's a rebellious business that can kill the head and implicate the family, even if it's tens of millions, it's not enough. Lin Chengkun despised the revolutionary party for being petty while talking to Chen Jingyun about other situations regarding the revolutionary party. In fact, he and Chen Jingyun had wronged the revolutionary party people, who were not all wealthy, relying on donations for their daily income, living a tight life. Sun Yat-sen and Tao Chengzhang, Zhang Taiyan, etc., had even quarreled multiple times over money matters, with the amount in question being only tens of thousands of yuan! To pay off Tao Chengzhang's debts, Sun Wen had even sold his watch and clothes! It can be seen that the revolutionary party is not a big shot! Moreover, if the revolutionary party people could take out tens of millions at any time, they would have used it to buy guns and cannons long ago, there was no need to give it away!