"......, Mr. Consul, the purpose of the Constitutional Protectorate is actually very simple, that is, to protect the basic rights and interests of every citizen with the Constitution. China is a country that has been autocratic for more than 2,000 years, and the people are in dire straits under imperial power and feudalism, and there is no protection of human rights. A liberal and democratic country is a country where everyone knows how to defend their rights, and the Constitutional Protectorate is willing to be such an enlightener and sacrifice for it. ”

On the afternoon of the trial in Dali Temple, Jiangsu Province, in the small building of the US Consulate in Nanjing at No. 18 Xikang Road, Liang Qichao, dressed in a suit, was surrounded by a group of American Chinese, among these people, in addition to the US Consul in Nanjing Ding Jiali (Tenney-Charles-Daniel) and relevant personnel of the consulate, there were also a cadre of teachers and students of Nanjing Jinling Theological Seminary, including a man in his thirties: John-Leighton-Stuart, The Chinese name is Situ Leiden.

"Mr. Zhuo Ru," Situ Leiden, who was born in Hangzhou and is fluent in Chinese, asked when Liang Qichao lowered his head and drank coffee—he found that Mr. Liang drank tea less and less often, and drank coffee more and more, which is really a good thing, and the government of the Revival Society never drank coffee—"What do you think of the Revival Society?" Will they really kill the gentlemen who persecuted the Constitutionals? Situ Leiden introduced himself: "I was in Hangzhou nine years ago, and I witnessed the scene after the occupation of Hangzhou by the revolutionary army of the Renaissance Society, as far as I know. Although they were revolutionaries, they were very law-oriented. At that time, all the Manchus and officials were given a fair trial......"

"Renaissance is a revolutionary party. Since it is a revolutionary party, the direction of that qiē is for the success of the revolution, that is, the political power, the dragon chair of the Forbidden City. Hearing that Situ Leiden had been in Hangzhou nine years earlier, Liang Qichao had to think about his words, because a person who was fluent in Chinese and had lived in China for at least nine years would never be as foolish as Ding Jiali, the consul in Nanjing.

"Although the dragon chair does not seem to be sitting in the Revival Society, the people on the dragon chair are controlled by the Revival Society. In order to fool and enslave the people, the Revival not only did not sweep away the feudal remnants. On the contrary, it is also widely advocated that this is not at all what a constitutional government, a government that truly serves the people, should do. Since the people of the whole world can deceive and fool for the sake of power, killing people is not a big deal for them at all.

From the very beginning of its establishment, the Constitutional Party has been committed to promoting the Constitution and protecting human rights. For a short time, or more specifically, when there is no threat to the dominance of the Ba'ath Congress, they will allow the Constitutional Protectors to act, but once they are in Congress. And unite with the Kuomintang, then the situation will change greatly,

These should be a little bit of what happened to Mr. Sun Yat-sen. Mr. Sun fought for the revolution for 21 years, and he died nine times in his life. He led eleven uprisings against the Qing Dynasty, and during the Hangzhou Uprising nine years ago, he also sent his subordinates to fight alongside the Fuxing Society. But the result? All he got was framing and persecution, why send someone to assassinate Yang Jingcheng. What collusion with the Qing army to calculate the revival army...... what credibility do these things have? Bending into tricks has been around since ancient times. When will revival fall, and when will the truth come out naturally......"

Americans are gullible. Especially to the people you help. Liang Qichao said sadly about Sun Yat-sen, Ding Jiali and others couldn't help but draw a cross on their chests. As Christians, like the missionaries in China, they fully believed what Sun Wen and his wife, who were already in the United States, said that Sun Yat-sen had left the country because of persecution in the revival society.

"Mr. Zhuo Ru......" When Situ Leiden wanted to say something more, there was a sudden roar like spring thunder outside the house, followed by the firecrackers of 'Bilibili Bar' and the earth-shattering sound of gongs and drums, Tang Jueton, Tang Hualong and others, who did not go to the trial scene, subconsciously stood up, with indescribable excitement on their faces. Sure enough, after a while, the phone in the room rang, and the consulate staff who took the phone whispered a few words to Ding Jiali, and Ding Jiali stood up with a smile on his face and stretched out his hand to Liang Qichao, saying: "Dear Mr. Liang, I am honored to inform you that Dali Temple in Jiangsu Province has once again ruled against you!" ”

"Good! That's great! Tang Jueton and others behind Liang Qichao shouted, but because they were in the American consulate, these people shouted twice and held back. On the contrary, Liang Qichao, who was well aware of the internal affairs and was deeply aware of the pain of the position of one million taels of silver and the vice chairman of the Constitutional Protection Party, stood up very magnificently, shook hands with Ding Jiali and other Americans like a gentleman, and said: "Gentlemen, I am most grateful at this time to Mr. Wu Tingfang and Mr. Cao Xuegeng of the Shanghai YMCA. With Mr. Ng Dinh Fong, in this increasingly authoritarian country, at least the law is still just; And Mr. Cao Xuegeng helped us in the most dangerous and difficult times, so that we can live until now and see today's final victory. ”

Wu Tingfang is a dedicated justice, and although he was born in the United Kingdom, the Americans still recognize his dedication; And Cao Xuegeng, the YMCA was originally an ostensibly independent organization established by the Presbyterian Church of America to attract young people in China, and at the same time, the Americans Ding Jiali, Situ Leiden and others present here were originally missionaries - after the United States became stronger and stronger, the merchant consuls in the fifties and sixties of the last century were gradually replaced by missionary consuls, or rather, the whole of the United States, from home to abroad, was in a period of Christian resurgence at this time, and this high tide would not end until the lifting of Prohibition 18 years later.

Ding Jiali and others, who felt Liang Qichao's kindness to Christianity, had a more sincere smile on their faces, and at this time, the staff had already brought the champagne, and Ding Jiali asked people to help shake the champagne and congratulate Liang Qichao again.

As far as the United States is concerned, the growth of China's opposition party is what the United States is most happy to see, whether it is the Constitutional Protector Party, the Kuomintang, or even the later proletarian party, in short, as long as it can check and balance the existing ruling party and keep China in a weak and chaotic state, it is in the interests of the United States. In the basic policy of the United States toward China, China must not be placed under the complete control of a group of countries. This is not based on democracy, but on geography.

Champagne splashes in the consulate. Laughter and laughter, and outside the consulate. At the Japanese Consulate in the Drum Tower, which is a little closer to Nancheng, the Japanese consul Funazu Tatsujiro looked at the cheering crowd several kilometers away with a telescope, and couldn't help but curse in a low voice. While Japan is becoming more and more friendly with the ruling party, the United States is increasingly supporting the opposition party, and this time the Constitutional Protector Party's land compensation lawsuit not only did the US consuls and churches in China protect the landlords, but even President Wilson's special envoy to China received these people in Shanghai to show the US Government's concern and sympathy for the Constitutional Protectorate.

If this kind of thing happened in Japan, it would not only provoke public harassment. There is even a high risk of xenophobia. Funazu Tatsujiro didn't know what Yang thought, was it because he was afraid of fighting on two fronts like Germany? Lu had decayed, and his army, even though barely equipped with enough weapons, was defeated, encircled, and captured by the well-trained Independence Army. What is there to worry about in such a country, is it necessary to give in to the white animals of the United States because of such a country?

Chenjiro Funazu muttered as he watched the raging crowd on the street, and after a phone rang, the consulate secretary came to report, "Your Excellency, the governor has called from the yamen, and I hope we will avoid going out today." ”

"Nani?" Tatsujiro Funazu turned his head in surprise. The telescope was still held in the position just now, "What are the Chinese going to do?" ”

"I don't know." The secretary shook his head and said, "I didn't say it on the phone." Your Excellency, do you need to call the governor's yamen to ask ......?"

"Nope. Not necessarily. Go and tell the expatriates right away that they stay home all afternoon and don't go out. Tatsujiro Funazu smiled. He doesn't mind watching a good show.

The Japanese waited to see a good show, near the provincial Dali Temple. In the Fuyamen of Jiangsu Province, which was in the midst of a huge noise, Fei Yugui, the mayor of Shanghai, who was already furious but endured, looked at Governor Deng Wenhui and said, "When will you do it?" ”

"Hands-on? Hey. Deng Wenhui, who came from the gang, was still so immodest even if he put on a third-grade official robe, he said: "This matter can involve Americans, many missionaries are on the street, if we put the peasants and soldiers outside the city in, then the matter is not something we can handle." ”

He said and said, "Let's wait for the holy judgment of the capital." If you really do it, Lao Tzu is not ambiguous! But I don't think it's a joke about this matter, with the mind of the prime minister, if you don't kill it, you can kill all the gentry in the world, so as to prevent future troubles. What is the kinetic energy of our Nanjing? If the time comes, the Americans will accuse and then do something, and then the merchant ships on the other side of the Atlantic will be miserable. Ziyi, bear with it, endure it, wait until we have the money, kill these bastards! ”

Deng Wenhui was very disgusted when he thought of Lin Changmin, the leader of the Constitutional Protection Party, who was carrying the coffin outside the Fuyamen to give a speech, but he knew that it was not the best time to purge the gentry at this time. When he said this, Fei Yugui took a deep breath and said, "What about land reform?" If you don't finish this thing in the past few years, and wait for foreigners to look east, it will be ......"

"With the prime minister's temperament of planning and then acting, things will eventually have a way." Deng Wenhui said blindly. In fact, he didn't know what else the court could do in the current situation, and just after he said 'there will be a way', the chief of the telecommunications section hurriedly came in and handed him a telegram.

"Is it true?" Deng Wenhui rubbed his eyes with his hands after seeing it, a little incredulous.

"My lord, the message is translated by his subordinates, and there is no difference." Like other provinces, Jiangsu's telecommunications section chief also came out of the army, and he was very young.

"What does the message say?" Fei Yugui wanted to know the contents of the message, but due to the confidentiality rules, he could only ask lightly.

"Look! The Inspectorate just opened guò thirty minutes ago. Deng Wenhui laughed, handed him the message, and then high-fived happily, "I'll just say, the prime minister has planned everything, and it is estimated that it will be discussed before the land reform bill is submitted to the Inspectorate." Didn't the landlords want to protect the constitution and the law? Then let's give them the law, and see who plays whom. Come on, let the peasants and soldiers outside the city withdraw, and tell them that we have won! ”

The peasants and soldiers outside the city knew that they had won, while the landlords inside the city cheered for victory, and with the help of convenient communication, ten minutes behind the provincial governor's yamen, the latest news of the Inspectorate reached the American consulate in Nanjing. The pleasure was completely gone, and the champagne bottles were empty, in a separate room. The Constitutional Protectors are deliberating.

"How can the IRS ...... How can a 20% property tax be levied? Japan's land tax is only 3 percent. Is this to drive us out? Tang Hualong took the telegram handed over by the Americans and sat on his chair. It's like a broken backbone.

"We're going to sue them!" Xu Fusu, who came in from outside just now, was sweating all over his face. After the victory of ecstasy. What I got was still a failure, which made it unacceptable to anyone. At this time, he seemed to see the contemptuous sneer of the man in Yin'an Palace.

"I can't sue you!" Zhang Jian, who had just come in to discuss, said. "Tax-related lawsuits are under the jurisdiction of the IRS Tax Court, and as in the last case against abuse of military spending, it is not clear whether this case can be won or not."

"Then let Zhang Yipeng return the one million taels of silver to us." Xu Fosu glared at Zhang Jian, this matter was the thread between Zhang Jian and Tang Shaoyi, and the reason why Zhang Jian was like this was that in addition to the fact that there were many cotton fields in Dasheng Yarn Factory, it was not wasteland but cultivated land. More reason is that with the development of cotton planting areas in the northwest, Dasheng is under increasing pressure from Shanxi yarn mills - if the industry is not revitalized to obtain low-interest or even interest-free loans, the Dasheng yarn mill that has been greatly expanded will not be able to build a new factory in Shanxi; The government revitalizes agriculture and construction transportation, the northwest cotton planting area will gain more and more cost advantages, when the day is lower than the price of U.S. cotton, printing cotton in the northwest cotton is sold in the south of the Yangtze River, it is the day of bankruptcy of the Dasheng Yarn Factory, this day, it will not take many years.

"This ......," Zhang Jian said with a face full of grievances. Yunbo has finished the trial, and the result is that you won. Now ask people to return the money, where is the reason? ”

"But if you win, you don't win! It's not worth the money. "A judgment sells for one million taels of silver, which is more expensive than buying a governor at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It doesn't matter if it's expensive. But in the end, this verdict was invalid, and it really blew up people's lungs. This is not a tea enclosure in the kiln, this is a million white flowers of silver.

"Yunkui ......" Liang Qichao's face was not pale. When he first heard that the Inspectorate was leviing land tax, he still didn't know a lot about it, "Mr. Four. This land tax seemed to have existed before, but why is it suddenly available now? ”

"Land tax existed before the country was founded. It's just that the IRS has been exempt from this. If you have land at home, you have a land tax column on your tax bill, but it has always been exempted. This is the same as personal income tax, which was exempted at first, and then it was not exempted. ”

"Can we sell it?" Tang Hualong said, "This is to tax the land reform, if we sell them to those who have less land, is it ......?"

"Sold?" Zhang Jian shook his head, "Who are you selling 400 million mu of land to?" Now at this time, who dares to buy, even if someone buys, the stamp duty on cultivated land transactions was set very high when the Institute opened last year, 221 acres of land, and the stamp duty on transactions will be 30 taels, and you don't want to give it to others! I see, this matter has been completely blocked by Yang Jingcheng, if you don't go to the land reform yamen to sign, maybe the IRS doesn't want your land, and will levy a tax of 20% of your land price every year until you go bankrupt. Ladies and gentlemen, the matter has come to this, and the old man is powerless to help, so he will leave. ”

Zhang Jian, who didn't want to get into trouble, immediately flashed, the land is only a small part of his family property, if it can't be preserved, it doesn't matter if it is abandoned, the key is not to be dragged bankrupt by the land tax.

As soon as Zhang Jian withdrew, Xu Fosu, who wanted to pursue the million stripes of silver, had to stomp his feet, he turned around and looked at Liang Qichao very anxiously, "If this matter is going to get out, the morale we have gathered so hard will be completely dispersed, and the efforts of the past two years will be ruined." Ren Gong! The survival of this party is today, and we have to think of a way. ”

"What else can be done?" Tang Hualong was also quite discouraged, "We can buy Dali Temple, but we will never be able to buy the State Taxation Bureau, the State Taxation Bureau is controlled by the military, not to mention buying, it is not easy to get in......

Tang Hualong didn't mention the IRS, but Liang Qichao of the IRS was taken into account, he pulled Tang Jueton and whispered a few words, and Tang Juedun went solemnly. After Tang Juedun left, he looked at everyone again and said coldly: "I remember that the internal text of the Revival Society seized by the Qing court mentioned that the most important thing in the revolution is not ism, but hatred and blood!" No matter how false a lie is, as long as it is made of blood, it is true. Ladies and gentlemen, let us shed some blood this time as the revolutionary party did. ”

From the Drum Tower where the U.S. Consulate is located, to the Confucius Temple where the Dali Temple is located, the straight-line distance is more than five kilometers, even if the carriage of the consulate is fast, Tang Jueton rushed to the Dali Temple to see the scene commander Lin Changmin, the landlords have almost finished their tour of the streets, and everyone is busy preparing to go to the Qinhuai River to pack some flower boats to be comfortable.

"What did Ren Gong say?" Hongwu Street near Dali Temple. The Constitutional Protectors were crowded, and all the shops on the streets were closed. It seems that all that remains in the world is the shouts and gongs of the Constitutional Protectorate. Under the banner of countless constitutional protectors, Lin Changmin was standing in a coffin carried by a hired sedan chair man. Surrounded by the landlords in front of the coffin and behind the coffin, it is like a king in the world, so not majestic. But after listening to the telegram from the capital, his face full of excitement suddenly became solemn, and his eyes were full of anger, but he had always understood the seriousness of the matter, so he still endured his temperament and asked for countermeasures.

Ren Gong said... In this case, things will not be ... It's a big deal, and the party is going to... It will be scattered as birds and beasts. Only the shedding of blood can stir up hatred and make people... From the matter of land reform to the matter of human life..."Tang Jue was out of breath, although there was a carriage, but when he arrived at the land, the crowd was dense, and he had to squeeze over.

"Oops!" Lin Changmin was in a hurry, when was it, what theory did Ren Gong still play, he patted his thigh and said urgently: "Female inside!" How? If you don't say anything, people will be scattered! ”

"Ren Gong said that he wants you to take someone to attack the IRS." Tang Juedun was also anxious. No longer caring about others, he said loudly.

"IRS ......" Lin Changmin muttered subconsciously, and immediately patted the coffin board on the side, asking people to turn on the electric horn, and he wanted to speak to the party members. The electric horn is battery-powered. It was not easy to put in the coffin, so I had to find a chicken cart to push those batteries, and the carnival just now cost a lot of electricity. It was the technician who told him to make a long story short and save no electricity.

"Gentlemen..."Lin Changmin shouted into the microphone. But the cacophony of the procession and the sound of gongs and drums drowned out his voice, and only some people nearby heard it before they looked back at him.

"Silence ......!!" Lin Changmin had to learn from the judge. Not only loudly, but also the elder who put the word "quiet" on the flip. Finally, the marchers stopped, and the autumn wind seemed to have stopped, and more than one or two thousand people in the street looked at him.

"Comrades! There was bad news, a telegram came from the capital, and when the adults heard that we had won the lawsuit, they immediately asked the IRS to increase the land tax, which was very high, at least 20% of the land price! This not only forces us to sell our land, but also uses this method to ruin our families and ruin our families.

Comrades, the law is useless, and no matter how fair the presiding judge is, he will not be able to deal with those laws that are already unjust. In the eyes of the imperial court, we are fish and meat, and if those officials don't make up their minds about us, don't cut our flesh, and don't drink our blood, they won't be able to live in peace for a day.

But whose money and whose land were blown by the wind? These are the family businesses that our ancestors saved over several lifetimes of hard work and frugality. Is it true that being rich is sinful? Is it unkind to have a geocentric heart? I don't believe it! I, Lin Changmin, don't believe it even if I die a hundred times! The imperial court has made so many crooked and evil tricks of land requisition, but when has it been a serious and honest talk to us about land requisition? But when has it been true and equal to regard us, the landlords, as citizens of the country?

Since the founding of the country, have we paid less taxes? Since the founding of the country, haven't we voted for the Revival Society? Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, haven't we looked forward to a new dynasty and a new atmosphere, and are determined to be a new nation? Both! Does it work? The imperial court didn't treat us as human beings at all, they didn't want us to be new citizens, they didn't want us at all, and they wanted to kill us!

Comrades, we can't go on like this, and if we continue like this, our families will be ruined. Come! Comrades, follow me! Follow me to the IRS! Go and ask them, why do they charge 20% land tax? Who made them levy a land tax of 20 percent? Aren't we human? Why are you so harsh on us? ”

As if it had been calculated, the battery ran out at the last sentence, the sound on the radio stopped, and the street was silent, and everyone was immersed in Lin Changmin's speech without coming back to their senses. Just as everyone was in a hurry, Lin Shen, the leader of the team's operations team, shouted with people, 'Go to the IRS!' Go IRS Theory! These voices suddenly brought the content of Lin Changmin's speech just now to everyone's minds.

So, the narrow streets, the confined environment, the gap after the ecstasy, and the effect of the cluster, these finally made the people on the street cry hysterically: "Go to the IRS, go to the IRS theory!" Go to the IRS, go to the IRS theory!! "Under the banner of the great protector of the Constitution, the crowd poured into the IRS. (To be continued......)