Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 6: The Changing Nature of Railway Protection
Good wine, good meat, and good food.
The whole table was filled with food, and in the middle was three hundred dollars sealed with red paper, but the four people sitting at the table found it difficult to swallow .
"Brother...it's all my fault for having such a foul mouth!"
"Brother Yang, the master did not mean to do that. Please don't take it to heart."
"Hey, let's not talk about it. No one did it on purpose. Let's think about what to do next. I think Brother Yang is going to be put in trouble this time."
"Or I should go contact...them and explain it." Bingwen said hesitantly after looking at the three of them. In fact, even if he didn't explain it clearly, the three of them all understood that the fact that this baby-faced man had connections with those people was no secret in the baggage camp.
"Forget it, let's eat!" Yang Qiu was the first to raise his chopsticks and stabbed them hard into the chicken's butt. Since he would be in danger of being cut if he hid his head, there was no point in worrying. He might as well wait until he reached the bridge.
Yang Qiu is an open-minded person. Moreover, there is such a big secret as the data machine. He is not worried at all about making a living. If it really doesn't work out, he can simply cross the ocean to the United States and watch the tide of the times roll by like a Yugong. There is no problem at all.
Seeing Yang Qiu eating with his mouth full of oil, the three thought he was venting his anger. Especially Xiao Anguo who let the secret slip, he felt even more guilty. Not to mention that Yang Qiu saved his life, just thinking about the fact that he had treated him as his confidant before, he regretted it very much.
"Eat, don't just stand there." Yang Qiu wiped his lips, threw the chicken bones on the ground, and said to Xiao Anguo with a smile: "My lord, do you remember what I said three days ago? Since you and I are already brothers, why should you blame yourself for such an unintentional mistake? Besides, even if you did it on purpose, why would you worry? If an enemy comes, we will stop him. If a flood comes, we will block it with earth! As long as I stay in your army, haha, do they dare to sneak into the army to take my head?"
"You're right. As long as brother Huzi stays in the army, can't our hundreds of guns protect a single person?" Ma Kui slammed the table and immediately applauded.
"Yes!" Xiao Anguo took a gulp from his wine glass and swore, "Don't worry, brother. As long as I, Xiao Anguo, am in the army, I will protect you. Even if you are a party member..." Xiao Anguo glanced at Bingwen, paused for a moment, and said solemnly, "Don't blame me for being rude."
"I think they... won't be unreasonable." Bingwen didn't know what Xiao Anguo meant by that look. Thinking of Yang Qiu's life-saving push before, he secretly vowed not to let anyone hurt him at will.
"By the way, since the master and you have become brothers, why are you still the master?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a little relaxed, Ma Kui immediately joked, "Drink a penalty, you must drink a penalty."
"Yes, yes, Brother Yang, you have to drink three cups."
"Haha...Okay, then I will punish myself by drinking three cups of wine to apologize to Big Brother."
"Come, drink!"
Although everyone had their own concerns, they still enjoyed the reward wine very much after suppressing them. During the meal, Xiao Anguo humbly asked for advice on some military matters, and even Bingwen asked a few questions. Although Yang Qiu did not answer every question from the bottom of his heart, he also explained a lot of ways of training soldiers. As for how he learned it, he only said that he had read some foreign books on military strategy when he was studying in Shanghai, and the three of them did not suspect anything.
At the end, Yang Qiu wanted to divide the three hundred dollars, but Xiao Anguo and the other two insisted and took the reward, so he had to keep it with him for the time being.
…
"Snapped!"
Just as Yang Qiu and his three companions were enjoying their meal, a sound of angry slamming of the table was heard on Yuefu Street.
"This Zhao Erfeng is simply gathering those royalists to demonstrate against us. We must not neglect this matter, and we must immediately find a way to crush his arrogance!" Sitting at the eight-immortals table, Wang Tianjie, who was dressed in Japanese student clothes but holding a cigarette like a gangster, was furious about what happened during the day. As one of the leaders of the Tongmenghui in Sichuan, he was very annoyed that his opponents received large amounts of aid when they were about to start a rebellion.
"With a thousand rifles, I don't know how many of our comrades will be killed. We must not let that old dog Zhao Erfeng succeed."
"In my opinion, it is better to launch the attack immediately before the guns reach the soldiers' hands!"
"There is also the man named Yang Qiu, who killed our patriots and insulted our revolution. We must report to Guangzhou immediately and send someone to kill him. Otherwise, he will be used by the Qing government for propaganda, which will definitely severely dampen our revolutionary enthusiasm."
"Yes, that big guy! I saw him today. I think we should contact the comrades in the Hubei New Army immediately to avoid any more trouble."
"It's useless to say so much." Wang Tianjie grabbed the rifle in the corner and said viciously: "I'm going to kill him right now."
The mood in the dark room was very excited. The members of the Tongmenghui, led by Wang Tianjie and Wu Yuzhang, were shouting and killing, and they were ready to start the fight immediately. Before they could say a few words, the unfortunate Yang Qiu was dragged out for criticism. Everyone wanted to eat his flesh and grind his bones to vent their hatred.
The excited members of the Sichuan Tongmenghui made Pu Dianjun, who was slightly fat in the corner, sigh in his heart. The shouts and cries of fighting in the room made his heart wrench, and for some reason he felt that things were going off track.
Ever since he and Luo Lun secretly planned to establish the Sichuan Railway Protection Association and was elected as the president, he knew that in order to protect the Hanchuan Railway, he had to contact outstanding talents from all over Sichuan, so he contacted the Tongmenghui and invited Wu Yuzhang and Wang Tianjie. But now these voices made him realize that his original idea of peaceful railway protection seemed to be about to turn into a war!
Pu Dianjun admired Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and he also knew that these heroes of the Tongmenghui were ready to sacrifice their lives for their ideals at any time. However, it was the people of Sichuan who suffered from the war. If in the end he led the artillery fire into Sichuan because of his momentary thought, he would truly become a sinner of Bashu.
After secretly sighing, Pu Dianjun clenched his fists, thinking that if there was really a mutiny in Sichuan, Zhao Erfeng might also be responsible. If he had not contacted the Hubei New Army when he first took office and mobilized so many arms into Sichuan, how could the situation have developed to this point?
Wang Tianjie was just pretending when he picked up the gun. Seeing that everyone was angry, he was secretly pleased. Unexpectedly, he saw Pu Dianjun's unhappy expression. He was very dissatisfied with this pretentious guy and deliberately asked, "Mr. Pu, please say something." He didn't expect that Wang Tianjie would suddenly throw the blame to him. Pu Dianjun thought to himself that something was wrong. At this moment, not to mention the members of the Tongmenghui, even the people from the Baoluhui were looking at him.
"Yes, President, you have to make a decision at this time! Zhao Erfeng obviously came prepared."
"Yes, I think we should just rebel."
"No, no, the government troops just got a thousand spears, and their power has increased greatly. Moreover, if we push him too far, he will definitely report to the court to mobilize the army to Sichuan. What should we do then?"
Just as the party members fell silent, a dispute broke out within the Railway Protection Society, which made Pu Dianjun even more confused. At this moment, he realized that things were really out of control, so he coughed lightly to interrupt everyone, and then after thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "The only solution now is for me to go see the Governor again. If... I'm afraid there is only one way!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the Tongmenghui clenched their fists excitedly, while some people in the Baoluhui sighed deeply and shook their heads with a hint of helplessness.
"It's okay to meet Zhao Erfeng, and it's okay to talk again. It's okay for you to start a rebellion." Just as everyone was confused in the dark room, a big man in a green shirt and short jacket suddenly walked in. His tiger eyes swept over everyone and stopped on Pu Dianjun's face. He asked, "I just want to know, after losing the Guang'an checkpoint, how can we stop tens of thousands of Hubei New Army!"
"President Qin."
When they saw the newcomer, Wang Tianjie and Wu Yuzhang immediately looked at each other and saw the dissatisfaction in each other's hearts, because these words really hit the biggest weakness of the Tongmenghui's deployment at the moment, the lack of real armed forces of their own.
"It turns out to be Boss Qin." Pu Dianjun hurriedly stood up to greet him. Although Qin Zaigeng, who walked in, was the same age as him, he was the chairman of tens of thousands of Pao brothers in the land of Bashu. Even the Tongmenghui were polite to him. The Anjihui under his command was the largest armed force of the Tongmenghui in Sichuan at the moment.
Qin Zaigeng nodded to everyone as a greeting, then hurried to Pu Dianjun and asked, "Brother Pu, although Du Laoliu is a good person, he is now in prison. What do you think we should do?"
This time he was really anxious. Although Du Laoliu was not a well-known figure in the Gelaohui, and his evil deeds in Guang'an in the past few months had also attracted a lot of criticism, the more than 100 rifles and the Hotchkiss machine gun under his command were the key to guarding the important road from Guang'an to Chengdu. Now they were all wiped out. This meant that if something happened, the Hubei New Army could advance unhindered.
If it was before, everyone might not be worried, but now if they really want to start a rebellion, then the Hubei New Army, which is closest to Sichuan, will definitely enter Sichuan overnight. Without Du Laoliu to intercept them in the middle, the comrades and Pao brothers in the surrounding areas will not be able to intercept them in time even if they get the news, so what to replace Du Laoliu has become his concern. Moreover, since Zhao Erfeng was able to get a thousand rifles from the Hubei New Army, it means that the Qing court has also made plans. There is no perfect plan. With the power of the Gelaohui in Sichuan, I am afraid it can only be a futile effort.
What's more important is that he also saw Yang Qiu in the crowd in the afternoon. That guy gave him a very dangerous feeling. Moreover, he was just an ordinary soldier of the New Army, but he could kill the flag and seize the general, which made people worry about the combat effectiveness of the Hubei New Army.
"Brother Qin, you're worrying too much." Wang Tianjie saw that everyone was a little discouraged, so he immediately cupped his hands and said, "To be honest with you, Tianjie can guarantee that a large number of like-minded partners have already been planted in the Hubei New Army, and every move will be under control."
Wang Tianjie paused for a moment, and to emphasize that he had already controlled the new army, he said again: "And Mr. Song Jiaoren has also decided that if Sichuan rebels, Wuchang, Changsha, Nanchang, Guangzhou and other places will definitely follow suit. By then, the Qing Dynasty will not have time to send troops to Sichuan."
"This is true!" Qin Zaigeng grabbed Wang Tianjie and said, "We are all members of the same congregation, why don't I know about this?"
Wang Tianjie didn't expect Qin Zaigeng to ask this question, but he couldn't say, "The Gelaohui are just a group of ruffians, how could they know such secrets?" Although he joined the society earlier than Qin Zaigeng, Mr. Huang Xing had told him before he came that he must obey Qin Zaigeng's orders in Sichuan.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and said immediately: "To be honest with you, Brother Qin, I only learned about this yesterday. It can be seen that Mr. Song has made every possible consideration."
"Then I'm relieved." Qin Zaigeng was open-minded and not suspicious. He nodded and said, "Qin is going to do something. If you have decided, just send someone to Su Wharf. I will have tens of thousands of brothers and thousands of guns from the Anji Society to join us!"
"Brother Qin, wait for my news." After hearing this, Pu Dianjun knew that the situation was irreversible and could only say, "If the negotiation... fails, I will obey your orders in front of you."
"Brother Pu, you are too polite." Qin Zaigeng bowed and was about to leave. Wang Tianjie saw that he still looked unhappy and was worried that he would miss the time for the uprising, so he had to hold him and asked, "Brother Qin, this is a critical moment. I wonder what you are going to do by leaving like this?"
"Humph." Qin Zaigeng snorted coldly, his face as gloomy as water and he said sternly: "How can I let the one who killed my brother get away with it!"
