Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 59: The same public notice
The wheels rolled over, leaving a deep mark. A dozen soldiers followed closely on both sides with guns. Tang Hualong, who was sitting in the car, was still frightened by what happened last night. Fortunately, those party members were obviously leaderless. After the incident, they actually brought out Li Yuanhong, the old fox! Does this mean that he also has a chance?
As he was thinking about it, the river surface in the distance suddenly came into his sight, and the black smoke floating over Hanyang made his heart tremble!
When Wuchang was in chaos last night, he heard that the sound of artillery fire , but the people sent to check have not returned yet, and the phone calls to the other side have all been disconnected. There has been no news from his relative so far! This situation is really too weird. If the Kuomintang attacked the three towns at the same time, why can the Hanyang factory still operate normally today? Isn't it the Kuomintang? Thinking of this, he immediately asked: "Shouzhi, do you have any news from Hankou?"
"I wanted to send someone to check this morning, but as soon as the door opened, he was taken to the Advisory Council. He has been so busy until now that he has no time to ask questions on the other side." Xia Shoukang, Tang Hualong and Zhang Guorong are all from the same faction. The three of them also initiated the Hankou Constitutional Comrades Association. Together with Tang's son-in-law Hu Ruilin, they can be said to have basically controlled the Advisory Council. After hearing his question, he knew what he was worried about and smiled, "Jiwu, you don't have to worry too much. What tricks can Yang Qiu come up with? Just now they said that once things stabilize, the army will cross the river to incorporate the 42nd Battalion."
"You can't say that. Yang Qiu killed the leader of the party, and hundreds of people died because of him. He has already forged a life-and-death feud with them. In addition, he was promoted by Zhang Biao. Although he is not leading many troops outside now, if he joins hands with Zhang Biao..." Tang Hualong's heart sank: "We don't even have a leader here now. Don't even mention crossing the river for four or five days. When the navy arrives and cooperates with the other side, I'm afraid we will..."
Xia Shoukang knew him well, and hearing him say this, he knew that he still had his eyes on the position of Grand Commander. After all, this time was different from the past, as all of them were regular troops, and the three towns were fertile lands with sufficient financial support. If there was any real trouble, he wouldn't dare to say that he would sit on that chair, but he would certainly be honored as a founding father.
But this position was extremely hot, so he advised: "Jiwu, in my opinion, the army's morale is uncertain and the situation is unclear. There are only 10,000 soldiers in Wuchang City, and half of them are outside. If you... I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on to your position!"
Tang Hualong also sighed in his heart. If he could have sat firmly, he would have agreed just now. He said helplessly: "It seems that this position has to be left to that living Bodhisattva."
"There's nothing we can do about it." Xia Shoukang curled his lips and flicked the cigarette butt out of the car, his tone full of disdain: "Does Jiwu really think that living Buddha doesn't want to sit in this position? The 42nd Battalion is out, and the 41st Battalion also has two battalions coming back, all of them are his people! He has a good reputation in the army. Don't look at those people shouting fiercely, do you really want to kill him? Humph... I'm afraid that tomorrow the shells will fall on Wuchang City again!"
"The reason why he is being so hesitant is not only because the current situation is unclear, but also because this position is really hard to hold. The Kuomintang is just leaderless for the time being, otherwise why would they hand over this position? So even if he takes office, he must be restrained! If things go on for a long time, there will be chaos! The old fox knows these things like a mirror, so he is waiting! Waiting for the Kuomintang to hand over some guns to him. As long as he keeps the guns, who in the land of Hunan dares to touch him?!"
Tang Hualong also nodded: "It is certain that the military will be in power. After the Kuomintang has lost its limelight, it will inevitably launch a large-scale purge. Now we can only let him take this position first. I am afraid the future of us..." With a long sigh, both of them had worried faces. The constitutionalists, who had no power and no soldiers, had indeed reached the most dangerous moment. What should they do next?
When the carriage arrived at the Advisory Council, it was already crowded with people. Tang Hualong saw that the gate was already crowded with people when he got off the carriage. Soldiers, party members and important people in Wuchang City who participated in the uprising had basically arrived. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, a horse came over. Li Yuanhong sat still on the horse, with two 18-star flags in front of him, more than a hundred soldiers protecting him, Wu Zhaolin and others gathered on both sides, while the party members were left behind. When they got off the horse at the gate, the soldiers fired guns into the air to welcome them.
This is not compromise, it's just using the army to gain power! Tang Hualong snorted coldly, not wanting to watch this farce anymore, and walked into the venue on his own.
Soon after he took his seat, Li Yuanhong was escorted into the venue. When he saw him coming in, Tang Hualong winked at Xia Shoukang, who immediately stood up, applauded and shouted, "Everyone welcomes Governor Li."
Xia Shoukang's voice immediately made the meeting hall noisy. Although many people still felt that it was inappropriate to elect a Qing officer as the first governor of the uprising, most people stood up and applauded. Li Yuanhong did not expect this to happen. After looking at Xia Shoukang, his gaze shifted to Tang Hualong's face.
Tang Hualong seemed not to notice the hostile look, and he also stood up, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "With the arrival of the governor, we finally have a backbone. We only need to wait for the governor to officially take over, and then everything will be settled!"
Li Yuanhong smiled innocently and said, "Since you are all here, Mr. Song, I will not lie. I have always supported the revolutionary cause. If the chaos in the world is not changed, I am afraid that there will be even greater chaos. However, I am really not qualified to be the commander-in-chief. How about asking Mr. Sun Wen to come back and take charge?"
Bullshit! If Sun Wen could come, who would look for you? Tang Hualong said darkly, pretending to be worried: "The governor doesn't know that the three towns are leaderless now, Mr. Sun Wen is far away overseas, and Zhang Biao is still resisting. We need you to take charge of the situation."
"Aren't there Keqiang and Yingshi?"
"It's too late." Tang Hualong slapped his thigh, as if he had conquered Wuchang City , and said anxiously: "They are scattered in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The news has not yet spread. Even if it is spread, they will not be able to arrive in a short time."
"Then you, Jiwu, will take over. Everyone in the three towns knows that you support the revolution, are capable and decisive, and have served as the Speaker for so many years. You are familiar with government affairs. You are the best candidate."
"Mr. Li, you don't know. We did propose Tang, but I can't lift anything, and I don't know how to march and fight. I'm really worried about the future of tens of thousands of revolutionary soldiers, so I dare not obey your order." From the governor to the adults, and then from the adults to Mr. Li, the two foxes kept talking back and forth, and they didn't want to be the leader. This made everyone anxious. Seeing that Zhang Biao was still resisting, Hankou and Hanyang were in chaos, and Ruicheng was missing. The army in the north might have received the news and came to attack, but we didn't even choose a commander. Isn't this just waiting to die? !
Cai Jimin was anxious and angry, and shouted: "Li Du! The uprising has been decided, so don't refuse! Ruicheng is missing now, and Zhang Biao has retreated to Liujia Temple and is resisting stubbornly. The two will definitely seek revenge! The army is unstable, and the people are uneasy! This requires you to come out and raise your arms! Although our military force is not very large now, it is already advanced in China. We have three towns and a gun factory, and we have sufficient financial resources and weapons. There is no problem in expanding the army quickly. The Qing court sent troops to embarrass me, and we have a better chance of winning. As long as we can give it some time, the world will rise up. You will definitely be the first person to overthrow the Qing Dynasty!"
Wu Zhaolin had talked with Li Yuanhong at Chuwang Tower before, and knew that he was afraid of the Qing army's land and sea attack, so he hurriedly said: "The Qing court must have known about the Wuchang uprising by now. Tens of thousands of soldiers are leaderless. When you were the assistant commander, you took care of us. Do you want to watch us die now?"
Li Yuanhong sighed and said, "I know what you all mean, but this matter is too big, so we must be cautious. I am not qualified to be the governor, so please pick someone else who can do it!"
Cai Jimin was furious, and he drew his gun and said sternly: "It has come to this, and the arrow has been shot. If Mr. Li does not agree, I will have no choice but to commit suicide on the spot to thank my comrades in Wuchang and the martyrs who died in the war!"
Seeing that Cai Jimin was so angry that he wanted to commit suicide, Zhang Zhenwu, who originally felt that he should not have called Li Yuanhong out, suddenly stood up, winked outside, pulled out his pistol and slammed it hard on the table, pointed at his nose and cursed: "Li! Everyone complimented you today, but you are so ungrateful. Do you still want to surrender to the Manchus to fight us?"
After hearing Zhang Zhenwu's signal, several soldiers outside rushed in with their guns drawn, shouting that they wanted to drag Li Yuanhong out and execute him. Ma Rong even put his gun directly to his forehead and shouted: "You have to do it today, whether you want to or not!"
Seeing everyone draw their guns, Tang Hualong curled his lips, pretended to be nervous and waved his hands to calm them down, then ran over to persuade everyone to leave, and severely criticized Ma Rong and other soldiers for trespassing into the meeting room. Then he walked to Li Yuanhong and said, "Mr. Li, this matter... is settled. If you resign again, the soldiers will cause chaos and Jiwu will not be able to protect you."
Li Yuanhong looked around and sat down without saying anything. Silence was a sign of agreement, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Zhenwu shouted, "Li Xiping, bring the notice."
Li Xiping, who had been waiting for a long time, quickly put the prepared notice in front of him, took out a pen and put it on the table, and said stiffly: "Sign it." Li Yuanhong glanced at the notice and knew that if he signed it, he would not be able to wash it off, so he pushed it away very simply: "No, no! Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!"
This sentence caused chaos in the meeting room again. Zhang Zhenwu simply went over and grabbed his hand and tried to force him. Li Xiping also drew his gun and glared at him: "You are a slave of the Qing Dynasty, and you killed the contact person we sent. You deserve to be killed! Now we don't want to kill you, but make you a governor. You are still unwilling and are willing to be a slave of the Qing Dynasty. I will shoot you and choose another governor."
Wu Zhaolin was afraid that it would end up in a big fight, so he quickly said, "The governor is too tired today, I think we should find someone to sign for him."
"This won't do. This is a notice to reassure the people. You can't do anything reckless." Tang Hualong quickly waved his hands when he heard it, but who would listen to him now? Li Xiping rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'll do it." After writing the last word "Li" with a few strokes, he immediately took the notice to make a rubbing. This scene made Tang Hualong's face immediately gloomy. He cursed these lawless party members in his heart. When he was about to say a few words, a rapid shouting came from outside the meeting room.
"Speaker, something bad has happened! Something bad has happened!"
Tang Hualong recognized the man, a telegraph operator from the Advisory Council's telegraph station. He was not only not appointed as the governor, but also treated as air. He was so angry that he stood up and slammed the table, cursing: "You have no respect for elders and no rules. Do you think there are no rules after the revolution? How can this be disgraceful!"
The telegraph operator had no idea that his good intentions in reporting this would lead to anger and scolding. However, this matter was of great importance, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Speaker, this is bad. A telegram just came from Hankou saying that Hankou and Hanyang have been recovered, and even a notice to reassure the people has been posted! The telegraph received a nationwide telegram from the Chuyu warship!"
"What!"
Not to mention Tang Hualong, everyone in the meeting hall was stunned. They were still talking about crossing the river after the governor was elected in the morning, and they were liberated in the afternoon? Could it be a plot by the party members? He immediately glanced at Zhang Zhenwu and others, and saw that they all had stiff faces. He also saw the telegraph operator holding a piece of paper in his hand and immediately asked, "What is this...?"
"It's a notice to reassure the people. Someone just brought it back from Hankou." The telegraph operator handed the notice to Tang Hualong, who took it and thought it looked familiar. He hurried to Li Yuanhong and picked up the notice. After comparing it with the others, his face suddenly turned pale, and he slammed the notice in his hand on the table without waiting for everyone to understand.
"This is so bold, Yang Qiu!"
Li Yuanhong was sitting nearby. After glancing sideways, he was also stunned. It turned out that the contents and wordings of the two notices to reassure the people were exactly the same, with only the signatures being different. This one had only one "Li, Governor of the Hubei Army of the Military Government of the Republic of China", while the other had two.
"Li Yuanhong, the governor of Hubei Province of the Military Government of the Republic of China, and the commander-in-chief of the Right Route Army of the National Defense of the Republic of China... Yang Qiu!"
