Mayor Fei Yugui, Cheng Ziqing, director of the Shanghai Branch of the Security Bureau, Xie Yuan, the general office of the Shanghai Patrol Police Bureau, and their attachés were waiting outside the coroner's room. At five o'clock in the morning, the coroner's body was finished and the autopsy report was handed in.

Xie Yuan looked at it and handed it to Fei Yugui, but Fei Yugui didn't answer, he still recalled Tao Chengzhang's voice and smile in the afternoon, and didn't want to think that a few hours later, a living person would become a cold corpse. Fei Yugui didn't look at the autopsy report, Xie Yuan handed it to Cheng Ziqing of the Security Bureau, Cheng Ziqing hurriedly flipped through it and just asked, "Did you come out over there?" Do you want to leave it to me? ”

"There's nothing to judge." Xie Yuan shook his head, "The murderer was caught on the spot by a disabled soldier who opened a grocery store in the train square, and the murder weapon was next to him when he was caught, the bullet ballistics test was completely consistent, the gunpowder residue test was also normal, and there were many eyewitnesses who proved that he fired the gun." After investigation, this person's background is very simple, he is the son of a landlord in Sichuan, and his father was arrested for resisting land reform, and he traveled to Shanghai with some silver ......"

Xie Yuan couldn't say anything at all, this was not a conspiracy, but just an opportunity to retaliate by the hostile elements of the land reform. During the day, Tao Chengzhang questioned the results of the Dali Temple trial in front of many people, so he was followed by this kid. The various government ministries and the three departments of agriculture and soil science have little stake in the outside world, and Tao Chengzhang is used to being alone, and he only has two secretaries with him. The murder was carried out at a crowded train station, which the two secretaries could not protect properly.

"What a fucking hit!" Although Xie Yuan's words were not spoken, Fei Yugui knew exactly what was going on. He was very unwilling to do this. Tao Chengzhang, as a revolutionary veteran and Minister of Agriculture, was beaten to death by a stinky boy. I feel wronged when I think about it. "I don't believe it, before he did it. Will there be anyone to encourage him? Have you done a check on the ones around him? Arrest a few people for interrogation. ”

"My lord, if there is no conclusive evidence, the Inspectorate will not issue an arrest warrant." Xie Yuan said. "If it's a detention, then it's only a few days, those landlords are as cunning as foxes, and there are lawyers, so they can't ask anything."

"Fuck the Inspectorate!" Fei Yugui vigorously threw away the empty cigarette case in his hand. During this period of time, he has been sad about the case, and he is in a bad mood when he loses the lawsuit today, and he doesn't want to be worse because a good comrade died in vain. This made him unable to suppress the anger in his heart anymore, and scolded whoever he said.

"Why did the Inspectorate mess with you?" A voice sounded at the other end of the corridor, and when people got closer, a few people saw that it was Xu Xilin, the head of the Inspectorate, and Chen Ying from the Shanghai Inspectorate.

Xu Xilin's official rank is only half a level lower than that of Tingwei, from the first rank, and the highest rank among several people is Fei Yugui, Zheng Sanpin, as soon as he arrives, everyone stands up and salutes. Xu Xilin only half-received it, so he helped Fei Yugui, who was in charge, to raise his arms and said, "They are all comrades." Huanqing actually left like this, and I didn't feel good in my heart. If the case is really simple, then it should be handled simply. has to involve some people who shouldn't be involved, and take Huanqing's brother as a person. There will be uneasiness under the nine springs. ”

Xu Xilin's undercover identity is not known to everyone, including some people within the Revival Association. Now when they heard him say this, everyone was full of good feelings. Fei Yugui said: "But Huanqing only said in front of the landlord in the afternoon that he wanted to make a revolution, and he was killed at night. Isn't there a stirring up by the Constitutional Protectorate? ”

"But do you have any proof?" Xu Xilin's eyes swept the sign at the door of the autopsy room, and his heart was very gloomy. The revolutionary comrades who had been in the revolution for many years just quietly left.

"Now is not the time to talk about evidence." Fei Yugui exclaimed with some excitement, "This is simply a conspiracy of the Constitutional Protectorate, they want to scare us so that we don't dare to do anything." If we really don't move, then how will we get it? Whose world is this world? Is it the Renaissance Society, or the Constitutional Protectors?! ”

Fei Yugui's eyes suddenly became wet as he spoke, and he thought of those comrades who sacrificed for the revolution and soldiers who died fighting to resist the foreign powers, without them, there would be no China today! But now those bullshit judges, those bullshit landlords, what right do they have to judge the heroes? What is the reason to stand in the position of the plaintiff? Could it be that they created this country? They are just a bunch of parasites, a bunch of old filth, and if these people are not removed, the country will never be clean.

"The revolution has passed, now there is only reform! What is reform? That is the one that transforms the country under the law. Whether we like it or not, this is the way we are going. Xu Xilin said, after he finished speaking, he saw that Fei Yugui was still unconvinced, and he was worried that he would do something out of the ordinary, so he had to add, "The prime minister will not agree to make another revolution." ”

"I will not agree to another revolution." Another voice rang out from the hallway. This person Fei Yugui didn't know much, but Xu Xilin knew that he was Xu Guantian, the president of the National General Peasant Association, and the eighth member of the Supreme Committee of the Revival Association.

"Why are you here?" It's okay if I'm in Shanghai, I don't want him to be there. Xu Xilin stood up and bowed.

"I heard the news in Shandong and came overnight, Huanqing has a very high prestige among the farmers, and I am afraid that something will happen." Xu Guantian said and subconsciously stroked his face - he came by plane from Shandong, not to mention the danger, but his face was hurt by the wind. "How's the case now, is the investigation clear? It's time to unify the external caliber, otherwise ......"

Unifying the external caliber is a matter for the government, Xu Xilin smiled when he heard this, turned around and arched his hand to Chen Ying, and glanced at the closed door of the autopsy room again, but after all, he left without entering.

Tao Chengzhang's obituary was published by the China Times in the afternoon, and seeing the full-page narrative about Tao Chengzhang, the world understood the reason why he did not see the China Times this morning, because he was a dead official. In the party headquarters of the Constitutional Protector Party in the concession, Lin Sen took the introduction of Tao Chengzhang's life on the front page of the China Times and didn't look at the front page of Tao Chengzhang's life at all, but pointed to the assassin on the second page and said: "This Wang Dongyan is really good, one guy killed Tao Chengzhang, why didn't he kill Yang Jingcheng?" ”

"Changren ......," Lin Changmin saw this fellow villager speak. Immediately drank him. On the contrary, Xu Fusu approvingly: "Changren, your revolutionary party has no other plan to give Yang Jingcheng to ......."

"Of course the revolutionary party has a plan." Lin Sen said proudly. "But your party doesn't cooperate. But for now, the reaction of the revival society is too calm. It's not that they sit in the world and become gutsless chicks. ”

Lin Sen is proud, and the members of the Constitutional Protector Party are also quite proud, the case won in the first instance of the Dali Temple in Shanghai, and the Dali Temples in the state capitals of the country will also follow this precedent, and will also judge the yamen of the state capitals and the yamen of land reform to lose the lawsuit. With this as capital, the Constitutional Protector Party will definitely be able to enter the Inspectorate in two years.

"Why don't you see Ren Gong?" Although Lin Sen was dissatisfied with the pride of the Constitutional Protector Party and others, these people had shit luck and actually won the lawsuit. He had to lament the injustice of the world.

"Ren Gong went to ......" Lin Changmin only said a few words, and was interrupted by Xu Fusu, he said: "Ren Gong is going to listen to the news everywhere and see what chess this revival will take next." ”

When he said this, Lin Sen just didn't believe it, but he was nothing more than a liaison in the Constitutional Protector Party, so it was difficult to follow up. In fact, this Liang Qichao did go out to find out the news, but this time the place he went to was more secret, and it was Xiyin Hall on Nanyang Road.

"Mr. Liang. I very much appreciate the righteous actions of the Constitutional Protectorate Party in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests, and I believe that after this victory, your Party will also achieve victories in other cities in China. For a country that has been autocratic for more than 2,000 years, this kind of behavior is not only progressive but also civilized. Through it, more people will understand the true meaning of freedom and democracy. ”

In the study room of Xiyin Hall, an American missionary named S.K. Tsao in English and translated as Cao Xuegeng in Chinese was talking. He is the director general of the Shanghai YMCA. Perhaps because there are many people in the Constitution Protector Party who have become Christians, he is very concerned about the actions of the Constitution Protector Party. Sitting next to Cao Xuegeng was Xie Honglai, a national member of the YMCA. It was he who bought Yang Rui's first book manuscript at the Commercial Press thirteen years ago and created a great legend.

American Cao Xuegeng said. Xie Hongcheng was in charge of the translation, and in addition to Tang Hualong, Liang Qichao, and his attendant Tang Juedun, the audience also included Zhao Fengchang, the owner of Xiyin Hall, and Tang Shouqian, Tang Shaoyi, and Zhang Jian, who were obviously sitting in the corner with their backs to the window. Although there are not many of these people, the forces they represent are extremely powerful, especially Tang Shaoyi, who is backed by the Beiyang forces and the northern gentry, and has a great influence -- the biggest difference from other forces is that the foundation of the 11th Army is the old Beiyang, and with guns in his hands, his waist is naturally straighter.

"Pastor Cao, although yesterday's trial was successful, Tao Chengzhang, the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, was assassinated at the Shanghai Railway Station. His assassin was the son of a gentleman whose father was a benevolent gentleman in Sichuan, but who was unfairly treated for land reform, with property confiscated and sentenced to death. Liang Qichao introduced the circumstances of yesterday's assassination, but did not explain why he knew so much about it.

Tao Chengzhang was the one who proposed the land reform bill, and his attitude towards the rural gentry was very fierce, believing that China still needed a revolution in which the former gentlemen would be killed, and then their property would be seized and their land distributed to the peasants. Moreover, he is also one of the founders of the Revival Society, and the reason why the revolution in Zhejiang was launched so early has a lot to do with him. Now that he's dead, we're afraid that the radicals of the Revival Society will start another revolution as he said......"

"Nope! No! After listening to Xie Hongcheng's translation, Cao Xuegeng shook his head and said no, "If the government of the Revival Society really does this, then he will be condemned by the entire civilized world!" I am sure that the President of the United States, Mr. Wilson, will also protest against this. ”

"Pastor Cao, we especially need the support of the U.S. government now," Tang Shaoyi, who had already discussed this issue with Liang Qichao and others, immediately said.

"That's true." Zhejiang's Tang Shouqian also said on the side, "I heard that after Yang Jingcheng's concubine died, his temperament changed greatly. He has a fierce temperament, and he attaches great importance to Tao Huanqing, if he really takes a risk, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"Okay, I want to ...... I think that when President Wilson's special envoy, Mr. Crane, is passing through Shanghai in China, I will find a way to get him to meet with all of you. He may be able to advise the Renaissance government in the name of the president not to be as extreme as the North Korean government......" Speaking of this, Cao Xuegeng stopped and drew a cross on his chest, and then said after meditating on God: "Gentlemen. There is an old Chinese saying that when you see a good thing, you will take it, with Yang's will. Agrarian reform is inevitable, while the quest for freedom and democracy has been long and tortuous. If the Revival government really does what the North Korean government does. It is not too favorable for the growth of the Constitutional Protectorate. ”

After saying his last advice, Cao Xuegeng and Xie Hongcheng wanted to say goodbye to their master. As soon as he left, Tang Jueton asked, "What does this foreigner mean?" Advice we want to ......"

"What Pastor Cao means is that we will enter the Mystery House first, and then fight against the Revival Society." Tang Shaoyi annotated Cao Xuegeng's last paragraph. He has studied in the United States for a long time, and he feels that he knows more about the United States than everyone here, but the tone of this sentence is very strange, as if he himself disagrees with it.

"I think it's because Americans don't have the money to bet." Tang Hualongdao, the third person of the Constitutional Protector Party. "It's okay to shout a few times and sharpen your mouth, but you have to use a knife and a gun. The Americans can't help us. After reading out another explanation, Tang Hualong asked Tang Shaoyi again, "Brother Shaochuan, can this Beiyang town, that is, the 11th Army, issue a telegram on the two events yesterday?" This message does not need to be too clear, it is enough to be vague and express the meaning that peace is precious. ”

"Electrified?" Tang Shaoyi's eyes were very wide, and he looked at the people who were very puzzled. smiled: "Do you think that the people in the 11th Army or Beiyang have the final say?" ”

"When Beijing and Tianjin negotiated peace, didn't the Revival Society promise that the original troops would be reorganized, and the officers and officers of all sizes would not be dismantled and relocated in their original positions?" Tang Hualong asked curiously, and the others also stared at Tang Shaoyi. Hopefully the truth will be known.

"Beiyang Towns, when it was reorganized, it was said that the officers would not be moved, but it was not said that the soldiers would not be moved. The overseers of the Revival Society are gone. The soldiers of each squad were coaxed by their nice words. If Duan Zhiquan is powered today, he will have good fruits tomorrow; Besides, now the 11th Army is assisting in land reform in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan. One by one, even if someone wants to do something, they can't do it. Tang Shaoyi said about the situation in Beiyang. Very angry, "The Revival Society seems to be true to its word, but it is just because Yang has many methods and clever means, if it is really poor in donkey skills, then it will definitely be able to use a knife." ”

"What does Brother Shaochuan think should be?" Tang Shaoyi's words were cold in everyone's hearts, and Tang Hualong hurriedly asked.

"What else can I do? If the Revival Society really starts a killing spree, it can only raise the flag and defend the Constitution. Tang Shaoyi said.

"But don't you mean ......" Tang Hualong was very puzzled, just said that the Beiyang soldiers could not control it, but now he said that he wanted to rebel, which was inexplicable.

Tang Hualong asked, but Tang Shaoyi didn't answer, only waited for the landlord Zhao Fengchang to cough and asked, and he reluctantly replied: "If we rashly do something, then the name is in the Revival Society, if the Revival Society searches and kills the gentry from all over the country and exterminates the law, then the righteousness will be in our hands." Many officers and soldiers of the 11th Army, as long as they have no worries about food and clothing, and their families are properly settled, will still choose to stand on the side of righteousness to protect the constitution. ”

"Yunnan has been unified since the founding of the country, if something really happens, can it also raise the flag to protect the constitution?" After Tang Shaoyi finished talking about Beiyang and thinking about Yunnan, after he finished speaking, several people looked at Liang Qichao, who was silent and did not speak.

"Yang Jingcheng will not take risks." Surprisingly, Liang Qichao did not mention the matter of raising the flag to protect the constitution, but concluded that there was no need to raise the flag.

"How is this possible?" Tang Hualong asked, and after he asked, his eyes swept over the faces of Zhang Jian and Zhao Fengchang, but he was not recognized.

"Ahem......" Zhang Jian, the former waiter of the Ministry of Commerce, was muffled for a while, and finally spoke: "As long as the landlord does not bite the land price of twenty taels, the matter can still be resolved peacefully in the end." Now that the imperial court is trading arms and shipping, I really don't know how much money it has made. The previous plan was to earn two billion taels, and these two taels, plus the ten-year installments of the tenants, made a rough calculation of four billion taels. If the land price can be made up by half, then it should be content. ”

The internal affairs of the government are not known to Liang Qichao and others, and now when they hear that the arms trade can actually earn two billion taels, these people are all shocked: "Can you really make so much money?" ”

"Hmm." Zhang Jian nodded, "No matter what Yang Jingcheng is, his judgment of the international form is unparalleled in the world." In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he kept talking about building a large arms industry and a shipyard, and now it seems that he was really prescient. Gentlemen, if you want to fight for more rights and interests of the landlords, I support it, but if you directly run to raise the flag and rebel, then I think this matter should be forgotten. Whether it's Yunnan or Beiyang. If you don't get the support of foreigners, you won't be wiped out in a year.

I'm going to do the most. is still fighting with Yang Jingcheng within the scope of his permission. In the final analysis, it is okay for the Constitutional Protectorate to enter the Inspectorate. But if you want the Constitutional Party to be in power, then you should save this heart. If nothing else, other parties will not be able to win with the things stipulated in the current constitution and election law. ”

Zhang Jian's assertion is not liked by everyone. What does it mean to risk the death and end up just being a deserted councilor. Liang Qichao immediately asked: "If our party and the Kuomintang merge, is it possible to be in power?" ”

"The Association has a large and well-organized constituency, and now it has a program for the revitalization of agriculture. Can Ren Gong be confident that he will attract more people than revival? As for Liang Qichao, this person is a good means to create public opinion and turn the clouds and rain, but if you want to govern the country, then your ability is really bad.

"The Constitutional Protector also has a lot of power in the countryside, and when it comes to voting, the influence of the ancestral sects in various places is not small, if you add the citizens of the city. Even if you can't compete with the Revival Society, it won't be much inferior. Liang Qichao said.

Liang Qichao's words were convincing, but he still couldn't say a way to win the Revival Society, and Zhang Jian didn't respond at all after hearing about it. On the contrary, Zhao Fengchang smiled at everyone and said, "Everyone, the matter of winning the center is coming in the future, why rush for a while? Cooperation with the Kuomintang is not impossible. But for the sake of today, it is still necessary to stabilize the Renaissance Society. So that they do not take risks. If you win the second trial, it will be a matter for the Prime Minister's Office and the Tingwei's Office. At that time, we will all show solidarity with Lord Wu Tingfangwu of the Tingwei Mansion. The most important thing is the few months between now and the second trial. ”

Zhao Fengchang, the peacemaker, said reasonably, Liang Qichao asked Tang Juedun beside him at the moment, "Do you know who is in charge of Jiangsu Dali Temple?" ”

"This ......" Tang Jueton couldn't say that the Tingwei Mansion might transfer judges at that time, so he had to say: "The current Dali Siqing is Zhang Yipeng, this person is ......" He glanced at Tang Shaoyi and said: "It's the younger brother of Zhang Yilin, the staff of Lord Yuan Gongbao." However, before the trial, I don't know if Master Wu will transfer people,"

"Who can be replaced?" Liang Qichao smiled rarely, "As long as it is a judge with some qualifications, which one is not from a gentry?" Which family doesn't have a few acres of land? If we really have to wait until the day of the second trial, let's wait to see the show. ”

In the next few days, there was no change in the Prime Minister's Office and the Tingwei Mansion, and the peasant riots that had been speculated by the newspapers did not occur, but when Tao Chengzhang held a state funeral in the capital more than a month later, there were countless peasants from all over the city, and the entire capital was crowded inside and outside, but these people were very orderly, and there was no sign of trouble at all.

At this time, the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Land Reform Office expressed their dissatisfaction with the first-instance judgment and submitted an appeal petition to the Shanghai Dali Temple on the last day of the prescribed time limit for filing an appeal, but at this time, according to the procedure, the case was no longer the responsibility of the Shanghai Dali Temple, but the upper level of the Shanghai Dali Temple, Jiangsu Province, took over the filing of the case. As a result, the case will not be heard until four months later, in October at the end of the year.

After the appeal in Shanghai, Yin'an Hall was not only normal, but even a little breezy compared with before, but the more it was like this, the more uneasy Liang Qichao and others felt in their hearts. There are many others, at least the garrisons in various places are still stationed in the counties and counties - the knife is still on the neck, and it is not known when it will be cut down.

For this reason, Liang Qichao found someone to write an article in the newspaper criticizing the government's failure to withdraw troops and recover the Western Regions as a waste of money and labor, but this kind of article should be discussed and discussed in the newspapers, and the press had no way to take the Taiwei Mansion at all, and later a reporter actually wanted to break into the Taiwei Mansion to ask Lieutenant General Pei Shoutong, chief of the General Staff, about the matter, and did not want to be caught red-handed by the army.

Under the advice of lawyers, they again initiated a taxpayer lawsuit, suing the Taiwei Mansion for abusing military spending on the grounds that the national army did not go to the Western Regions to expel the Russians but stayed in the interior. However, all tax-related litigation is the responsibility of the IRS Tax Court, and although the case is heard, the plaintiff loses the case.

is so busy, and when the case against the Taiwei Mansion for abuse of military funds is over, it is already late autumn. Before the trial of the land reform compensation case, Nanjing City, like Shanghai, was crowded with more and more party members, and Liang Qichao and others, who lived in the city a day in advance, waited for tomorrow's final judgment with a smile on their faces, and everyone knew that this time they would still win. (To be continued......)