The outcome of the negotiations with Harriman was beyond Yang Rui's expectations, but it was also in line with historical reality. On the ship back to China, Yang Rui kept thinking about why the results were so different, only when he arrived in Hong Kong, the Chinese who got off the ship were arbitrarily searched and humiliated by the patrol of showing off their might, and only then did they understand that Japan was a powerful country recognized by the whites, so they were treated as equal and cooperative, and he was nothing more than a representative of a third-rate national railway company, why did Harriman buy his own account? When the Japanese threatened the Tonghua Railway Company, Harriman was probably waiting for him to come to the door for help.

When Yang Rui was thinking about the failed negotiation, Xie Jintai and Li Jitang had already come forward to say hello, Yang Rui retracted his thoughts and smiled at them: "The ship was mistaken, so Chong'an and Ji Tang waited for a long time." ”

"It's okay, it's okay. Luckily, it's not summer, otherwise I wouldn't know when I would have landed. Li Jitang was very happy to see Yang Rui this time, since the funding of the revolution, he had a feeling of getting rid of a heavy burden for the first time, many creditors saw his new soap factory, all changed the old coercive and stubborn attitude, nothing to ask him to drink morning tea, which had to make him sigh: life can be reformed like this.

"Hehe, it's good to be on the shore, it's good to be on the shore." Yang Rui laughed, from San Francisco to South Africa to the Atlantic, I don't know where one night, the ship was involved in the storm area, and it took a night to get out of danger, this experience made Yang Rui very afraid of taking a boat, but he felt that it was still stable on the shore.

Xie Jintai and Li Jitang didn't understand Yang Rui's experience, thinking that he was joking, but just invited Yang Rui and his party to get into the carriage, and then drove straight to Queen's Road. Yang Rui didn't know what to do. I only stayed at a hotel, only to find out that it was the most prosperous place in Hong Kong, when everyone got off the bus. Xie Zhangtai said: "Actually, this time I want to meet many gentry in Hong Kong, these people actually had dealings with Zhaochun in the early years, and I heard that you came this time, and I want to see you." "I've been talking about South Africa just now, and the two of them came to their senses when they got to the place.

In the previous plan of "Oh ......", Hong Kong's layout was mainly based on business and education. Yang Rui nodded and said, "This is as it should be, but what is the caliber for them?" ”

Caliber is the criterion for the external propaganda of the Renaissance Association. The gentry always claimed to be constitutionalists, and if they met revolutionary talents who wanted to unite, they would be honest that they were revolutionaries. However, the current revival will not be a few years ago, and there is a hematopoietic machine called the education society. Except for some professionals, the Revival Society no longer needs foreign talents. This is like a multinational company, except for the headhunters to find some high-end professionals, other talents are all looking for on the university campus, but those with work experience do not want to.

"It's better to say constitutional." Xie Jintai also thought for a while before saying, it seems that there are still some revolutionaries in this banquet, and after weighing it, he still thinks that it is safer to say that the constitution is safe. "The most important person in it is He Qi."

"He Qi?"

"Yes, He Qi. He was a member of the Legislative Council and was well known among the entire gentry. Xie Jintai was afraid that Yang Rui didn't understand this person. Specially advised.

Although it is on Queen's Road, the restaurant is still Chinese. As soon as Yang Rui entered the lobby, a circle of people dressed as gentry came out to the door to greet him with fists, and Xie Zhangtai immediately explained: "This is the member of the Revival Association that I told you, Mr. Wen Side, Mr. Wen has just returned from Europa this time, passing through Hong Kong, and when he heard that all the virtuous gentlemen greeted him, he had to get off the boat to see him in person to express his gratitude. ”

Xie Zhangtai is completely an excellent touter, although the discipline in the meeting does not allow him to reveal any more secrets, but these words still let the gentry who went to the banquet praise the voice, Xie Zhangtai said, and introduced to Yang Rui that the people who are welcomed, are all gentry and the like, Yang Rui has no time to remember, there are only two people in it and influenced, one is Xie Zhangtai said before He Qi, in his forties, eight-character beard, bright head, a suit, completely Western-style, the other person is extremely young, called Li Bingxing, in his twenties, A black school hat, dressed entirely as a Japanese student, and his movements are energetic.

The banquets of the Chinese people were harmonious, but when Yang Rui talked about the constitution, Li Bingxing, who was in the last seat, immediately got up, glared at Yang Rui, and scolded, "Tartar minions!" He withdrew, Yang Rui was surprised, and a gentry stood up and hugged his fists and said: "The dog is rude, please Mr. Wen Haihan, Haihan." ”

Seeing Li Bingxing dressed as a Japanese student, Yang Rui didn't want to worry about anything with him. Seeing the old man apologize, he also stood up and returned the salute. When he returned to the dock afterwards, Xie Zhangtai said, "Since the establishment of the Revival Branch in Hong Kong, Chen Shaobai and others have often come to persuade us to leave the Revival Association and join the Alliance, and just now Li Bingxing was a member of the Alliance, and this time he was dragged by his father to the banquet, and he was reluctant to hear our constitutionalism again, so he ......."

Thinking of the indignant look of the young man just now, Yang Rui only felt that he thought of himself many years ago, and sighed, "Young people always seek to be neat and refreshing, revolution, that's so simple!" Are we fighting in Hong Kong? ”

Xie Jintai also understood that the revolution was completely tortuous, especially the failure of the uprising of the Shun Heavenly Kingdom in the Ming Dynasty, and the death of his father stimulated him a lot, and he could understand the thoughts of young people very well. Besides, his father also felt that the constitution was flourishing and the revolution was declining, otherwise he would not have come to the banquet today. ”

"Why, his father isn't a member of the League?"

"No, the old man is very shrewd, before the revolution was prosperous, he bet on the revolution, and now the constitution is prosperous, and he will bet on the constitution. Anyway, it's a multi-bet, not afraid of missing. It's this son who joined the Xingzhong Society when he went to Japan to study, and now he has joined the Alliance, and he doesn't understand his father's hard work at all. Xie Jintai explained with a smile.

Rich gentry are like this, Yang Rui didn't want to make more comments, and with limited time, he hurriedly asked, "How is the soap factory?" ”

Not to mention that it's okay, as soon as he talks about industry, Xie Zhangtai has his eyebrows fluttering, "Soap has been sold for a long time, this is a domestic product, Hong Kong people like it, and Nanyang has also begun to use this kind of soap." It is unheard of that the revolution has not yet revolutionized like this! ”

He was happy, and Yang Rui also smiled. "Revolution is not necessarily murderous and fireproof. Revolution is often about construction. By the way, Ji Tang doesn't have any opinions on the other side, I heard that when the assets were evaluated. His rating over there is not very high. ”

"No opinion, no opinion. The accounting from Shanghai is very fair. Xie Jintai shook his head, "Actually, in the end, I hurt him, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen from a million fortunes to today." ”

"Chong'an, there is no harm in this, it is all for the revolution, Ji Tang is enthusiastic. But it is true that he does not know how to manage money, and he has donated many times to scatter his natural wealth. Yang Rui comforted, and saw that the crowd on the dock began to get on the boat. Again: "The meeting in Shanghai is about to start, you can handle things here, so let's come over to Shanghai." ”

"I understand. I've booked a ticket for the day after tomorrow, and I won't be delayed. Xie Jintai nodded. Because the overseas Chinese in the Nanyang area have to go to Hong Kong to join the association. He couldn't leave here, so he could only go to Shanghai two days later.

Hong Kong is not as strong as Shanghai, and the forces of the Xingzhong Association are intertwined, and the development of organizations here is completely a job competition with the Alliance, although everyone is fighting for different objects, but there are still many contradictions. If it weren't for Xie Jintai who was also a member of the Xingzhong Association, I am afraid that no one who cares about work would be able to do it. Yang Rui thought of this section, held his hand and only said a few words to take care. Then he got on the boat, waved goodbye, and left.

April 25th. After Yang Rui circled the earth for half a circle, he returned to Shanghai, at this time Wang Jitong's injury had healed, and the conference work had been re-responsible. At this time, Zhang Taiyan had been released on medical parole, and Xu Huafeng also rushed over from the Northeast, except for Zhong Guanguan and Yu Zixun in Europe and the United States, the seven members of the National Congress had already reached five people, and they rarely got together, and they began to discuss important matters after they were happy to meet. The first to speak was Yang Rui, he went out to do a lot of things this time, some things were done, some things were not done, and he always had to explain.

Yang Rui took out his notebook and said: "On this trip to the United States, there are two things that have not been done, one is the sale of raw silk in the United States, and the other is the railway lease. The former because the mulberry silk industry is a whole, not a few ways to reverse, the quality of raw silk involves mulberry silkworms, and mulberry silkworms are implicated in the gentry, farmers, land, foreign companies, many relationships, to improve is not easy, now only made another plan, will be printed and sent to everyone to discuss. As for the railway lease, Harriman did not seem to want to be hostile to Japan too early, and he estimated that he would first negotiate with Russia and then decide whether to lease the Antonmei railway. ”

The silkworm is complicated, and it involves a lot, everyone does not have much hope, and the railway is related to the Northeast foothold problem, everyone heard this, Xu Huafeng said: "What do the Americans want to do?" ”

"People are swordsmen, I am fish and meat, I want them when I want them, I don't want them when I don't want them, and because of the hostility of the Japanese, the foreigners don't have to worry about whether we rent or not, maybe they still want us to give them the railway. These foreign devils are not a good person. Zhang Taiyan shook the white paper fan and said confidently that he was sometimes crazy, but when he calmed down, what he said really hit the nail on the head.

Cai Yuanpei said: "Is that so? It did. ”

Yang Rui nodded helplessly, "I really can't think of any other reason besides this reason." In the final negotiations, I had backed down to the point where I could sign a 50-year lease, only asking for rent to be negotiated every 10 years. Such a condition is not signed, except that he does not want to build a global rail network. ”

"Then the Northeast is dangerous!" Xu Hua sealed.

"No, as long as there are no major incidents in the past few months, then we will keep it ourselves." Yang Rui had already thought about things several times when he was outside, and the countermeasures were barely available. "The military equipment in Europe has already been shipped, and it will arrive in Anton next month, but how to enter the customs is a problem. Are the Japanese still strictly inspecting customs? ”

"After being protested by the Americans, there was no investigation, and these boats of supplies can still get in." Wang Ji is the same way. The infiltration of the Andong Customs was the most important, and in two years of hard work, the customs and the anti-smuggling team were all bribed several times, and there, as long as there was no large-scale smuggling of arms, nothing could be done.

"That's good." Yang Rui nodded and said: "The people from the United States will also arrive next month, and it will be put into production in July." "The military factory, which has been in preparation for two years, is finally about to see the results, and Wang Jitong, Xu Huafeng and others, who were in charge of the formation before, are relieved, and the righteousness is simple, but if there are guns and bullets, it will not be so easy.

After talking about what hasn't been done, let's talk about what has been done. "The oil company is well prepared, and it is normal. Things in South Africa can also be determined. The mine owners over there don't like the yellow race, they like to use black people. So it was not too difficult for us to get the miners out, and we had made preliminary discussions to send them to Lorenzo Marques for training in the form of farm labor, and if there were no ships to bring them back after the army, they would return to China in batches. ”

This is good news, Cai Yuanpei said: "How many people? Won't they be exposed in Lorenço Marques? ”

"I don't know how many people there are, after the miners got it. We have to pick again, excluding the old, weak, sick and disabled, at least 40,000 people. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony. The control has always been very loose, as long as there is no trouble, they only collect taxes. Plus it's a white man's farm, and the miners are half farmers and half soldiers. Even if the guns were fired. It can also be said to be a private soldier on a hunting or a farm, and it will not be exposed. Yang Rui stayed in Lorenço Marques for a few days, and he had a general understanding of the local situation, so he decided to build an army in Lorenço Marques.

"If that's the case, then Nanyang can also build an army?" Zhang Taiyan only wanted to have as many troops in the meeting as possible, and when he thought that there were many overseas Chinese in Nanyang, he immediately started the idea of Nanyang.

"Nanyang absolutely not!" didn't wait for Yang Rui to speak. Wang Jitong spoke, "There are many overseas Chinese in Nanyang. The foreigners constantly stirred up infighting between the Chinese and the natives, hoping that they would have nothing to do outside. It is because they are extremely sensitive to all kinds of Chinese behavior, and it is difficult to conceal the army there, and even if they can build it, the scale is very small. South Africa, on the other hand, is not surprising that the Chinese are bought by white farmers, which is very common in South American countries; Moreover, the white farmers are bent on making money, and the foreigners do not associate Chinese laborers with the army, and there is really nothing to grab in the land of Africa. ”

After Wang Jitong finished speaking, everyone nodded, and Yang Rui saw this and said: "The South African army, under the half-worker and half-farmer, can be completed in three years at the latest." But even if it is an army, it is an army that has never seen blood. ”

"How is it better than Beiyang?" Xu Hua sealed.

"Non-commissioned officers and officers are complete, and one can at least top one and a half of Beiyang." Yang Rui affirmed.

"That's it. If there are 100,000 troops trained in a generation, then we can raise righteousness. Zhang Taiyan listened to the good news, and couldn't help fanning the white fan, full of spirit, only to feel that the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was in front of him.

Yang Rui and Wang Ji just shook their heads and smiled bitterly when they saw him, but also, he had been in prison for a long time, and many of the confidential documents in the association could not be read, and some of the strategies set by the revival association could not be understood, so he had this kind of thought.

Yang Rui explained: "The troops outside the customs are only responsible for the outside of the customs and have nothing to do with the revolution in the customs area. The army of 100,000 still has to be trained in the pass. ”

Zhang Taiyan said: "Can't the army enter the customs? ”

"Can't enter the customs, not to mention that the railways are all foreigners, even Shanhaiguan is also under the control of foreign soldiers in Tianjin. In addition, at the time of the Chinese Revolution, Japan and Russia would definitely find ways to expand their interests, and I was not at ease without an army in the Northeast. "The Anglo-French Entente has been signed, and the Anglo-Russian Entente is estimated to be being negotiated, and once the British and Russian negotiations are settled, Japan, as an ally of the United Kingdom, will also reconcile with Russia.

"How do the troops in the pass train?"

"Outside the customs, send backbone cadres to enter the customs, or send military cadets to various places for training."

"This ...... Can this be practiced? When the Manchu Qing Dynasty ......" Zhang Taiyan still didn't believe it, he only felt that things would not be so simple.

Next to him, Wang Jitong said: "Uncle Mei, let me ask you, is there a business group in Shanghai?" ”

"Yes. But what is the connection between our armies and the merchants? ”

"The Shanghai merchant group is our troops." Wang Jitong whispered on the side.

"What? This ......" Zhang Taiyan was shocked, there were more than 1,500 people in the Shanghai business group, and it was actually the Fuxing Army, which was completely unbelievable.

Yang Rui said again: "This is the reason why we want to establish a constitution. The constitution can make the gentry in various places not hostile to us, and the constitution can also be local self-government, once autonomous, there must be a lot of militia groups and business groups, as long as there are our members, we can run militia groups and business groups in the name of autonomy; Where there are no members, they infiltrate when the local gentry hire external instructors. Once the incident is raised, the militia and merchant groups from all over the country gather, and the army can be formed at that time, even if there is still a gap with the regular army, but at least the soldiers will be available. ”

Originally, Zhang Taiyan did not support the constitution, but after Wang Jitong carefully explained many times, he understood that this was just a measure of rights and interests, but many hidden things were not easy to talk about in prison, and he did not understand the reasons for many things until today's meeting. If the name is not right, the word will not go well, and if the word is not good, it will not be done. It is really a great event to establish a constitution, establish autonomy, and secretly raise troops in the Guannai.

Yang Rui saw that Zhang Taiyan understood, and thought that the matter was roughly explained. So he asked, "What is the current situation of constitutionalism in China?" ”

"It's a great thing." Cai Yuanpei said, he is already the vice president of the Xianyou Association, and some time ago, he met with Zhao Fengchang, Zhang Jian and others many times, and he knows a lot of news. "Some time ago, the minister who went abroad had just left Shanghai, and after arriving in Tianjin, 100,000 students wrote a letter to 'promulgate the constitution, change the official system, and reformulate the law'. Threaten to say, 'If you don't do it, you can't leave the constitution up.' Public opinion soared. Now the whole country is in favor of the constitution. ”

Hearing that Yuan Shikai, who had opposed the constitution before, also changed direction, Yang Rui smiled and said, "He is also selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, he really deserves to be a generation of heroes." 'Promulgating the Constitution, changing the bureaucratic system, and re-enacting laws'. The most important thing to do is the word 'change the bureaucracy'. At that time, a large number of powerful people were kicked out of the government. He, Yuan Shikai, was able to insert people into it. ”

The reason for Yuan Shikai's constitution had already been discussed before Yang Rui came back, and the answer they got was the same as Yang Rui's. At this time, when Yang Rui said this, there was laughter, and Xu Hua said, "Yuan Shikai is very clever, and what he is best at is judging the situation and acting when he sees the gap, it is normal for him to behave like this." ”

Zhang Taiyan said: "He, Yuan Shikai, and the Fuxing Association can be said to be the same but not in harmony. It can be said that he is half of the same people, and this person must be the great enemy of our revival society. ”

Yang Rui couldn't imagine that he still had such a judgment. asked with a smile: "If we start troops from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huguang at the same time on that day, what do you think of this Yuan Shikai?" ”

"Do you want to look at foreigners?" The first enemy of the Revival Society is the foreigners, Zhang Taiyan was deeply affected, and when he talks about the domestic situation, he must first talk about the foreigners.

Seeing that he was so serious, Yang Rui said with a smile: "Suppose the foreigners first protect the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and then find that the whole country is against it, so they can only be neutral." ”

"If I were Yuan Shikai, I would definitely ask for money and officials on the grounds of exterminating the rebels, and then when I fought against the rebels, I would find a way to get the support of the foreigners, and when the time came, I would coax the south to deceive the north, and in the name of peace talks, I would take all the rights into my pocket."

"What if his Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army can't defeat the Righteous Army, and the Righteous Army is bent on going north to attack the Qing Dynasty, what should I do?" What Zhang Taiyan said was actually history, although I don't know why he didn't remind Sun Wen and others at that time...... However, thinking about it, it seems that later the Restoration Society and the Alliance will have a stalemate, Tao Chengzhang was stabbed to death, and Sun Wen and his family have become enemies, even if they know that he will not remind Sun Wen and others.

"This game is easy to break, Yuan Shikai and the Manchu Qing are not of the same mind, if he wants to fight with the righteous army, it is a joke. When the time comes, the rebels will go north, he will inevitably be neutral, let the road open for the rebels to fight with the Manchus, the Manchus will win, he has soldiers in his hands, the Manchus will not dare to force him to rebel, and in the end he will do what the officials do, and the power will be captured, without any loss; The righteous army won a great victory, he either expressed obedience, or said that the republic, plus he had been operating in the north for many years, he must be given real power in the territory, if coupled with the support of foreigners, the province of Zhili would still be handed over to him. Although it is not as good as the previous scenery, the strength is still there; But if the rebels win a miserable victory, or the Manchu Qing Dynasty wins a miserable victory, or both are defeated, then Beiyang will come out to clean up the mess, and then who belongs to the heavens should look at the creation. ”

Zhang Taiyan incarnated as Zhuge Liang, and Yang Rui pondered for a long time, and he said, "In this way, the layout of the north still needs to be considered thoughtfully." ”

The meeting was open and digressed, Wang Jitong cleared his throat and corrected it, and he said: "Beijing came to report, most of the relatives and nobles in the capital oppose the constitution, but most of them have no real power, but the reason for Tie Liang's opposition is to the point. ”

"Oh, what did he say?" Yang Rui said.

He said that the people did not know how to ask for a constitution and give it power, and not only did they not think it was fortunate, but they suffered by sharing the obligation. If autonomy is continued, the bad guys will take control of the lifeblood of the local area, which is very dangerous. After Wang Jitong said it, he sighed: "This is the most dangerous person in the Manchu Qing Dynasty!" ”

Yang Rui also felt that this iron conscience was very thoughtful, no wonder the revolutionary party kept trying to assassinate him, and he said again: "What about those who support the constitution? ”

"There are also many powerful people who support the constitution. Zai Ze, who went abroad to investigate, Qi Shan, who was in charge of the capital and tens of thousands of patrol police, and Qing Wang Yixuan, Guangxu's younger brother Zaifeng, these people supported the constitution, and these people were completely able to speak in front of Cixi, and the faction that supported them completely overwhelmed the faction that opposed them. By the way, speaking of Zaifeng, a few days ago it was reported that he had taken charge of the Jianrui Battalion in the palace. ”

"Oh!" Yang Rui was surprised when he heard this, this is a big deal. The Jianrui Battalion has a total army of about 5,000 people and is a special force in the Manchu Janissa. It was founded in the Qianlong period, and its military achievements were extraordinary, and the army was full of children of the Eight Banners, which was the only unit in the Eight Banners Army that did not degenerate. The reason why Cixi was able to escape from the capital in Gengzi Nian was completely dependent on the desperate efforts of this army. This force is the first army in the inner city of Beijing, and now this army is under the command of Zaifeng, and it seems that Cixi is arranging the aftermath.

"How is Zaifeng, is he lustful?" Zaifeng has heard of it, but if you want to say what impression he has on him, Yang Rui doesn't know anything.

"I'm afraid of my wife, I'm very timid, and I don't dare to come out to drink flower wine. He Fujin is the daughter of Ronglu, very difficult to fiddle with, at home is said to be a tyrant, even his mother-in-law is not afraid, when he makes trouble, his two younger brothers are not at home, that is a tigress. "There are a lot of secrets about the powerful people in Yichun Garden, these things that ordinary people don't understand, when they are pleasing women to support their faces, they will be said by those powerful people without hesitation, which makes the Fuxing Society know everything about every move in Beijing." However, this person's insight is not bad, although he supports the constitution, but he does not think that the constitution can make the Manchu Dynasty for thousands of years, but believes that the constitution should be in the imperial court, and the small power is placed in the gentry, and then in the name of the constitution, rectify government affairs, run schools and factories, in order to become rich and strong. ”

Knowledge and action are two different things, Yang Rui is not optimistic about Zaifeng, so he skipped this discussion and said: "Let's not care about the capital first." Let's talk about how the meeting was prepared, and how everyone arrived? ”

"It's almost there. Representatives from 18 provinces, except for Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan, attended the meeting, but Xie Zhangtai, a representative from Guangdong, arrived a few days late. The conference is scheduled for three days later. Wang Jitong opened a thick iron box in his hand with a password and took out a thin piece of paper. Yang Rui took a look, but it was the list of provincial representatives at this meeting:

Beijing - Tao Chengzhang, Che Yue

Zhili - Sun Songling, Chen Zhaowen

Shandong - Xu Jingxin, Liu Guansan

Shanxi - Gu Sishen, Wang Yinfan

Henan - Zhang Zhongduan, Liu Jixue

Shaanxi - the well is not a curtain, often self-renewal

Gansu - Zhang Zanyuan, Chai Ruoyu

Hubei - Feng Temin, Cai Minji

Sichuan - Yang Cangbai, Bian Xiaowu

Anhui - Quan Daohan, Bai Wenwei,

Jiangsu - Tu Yuanbo, Liu Guanghan

Zhejiang - Wei Lan, Ao Jia Xiong

Jiangxi - Deng Wenhui, Chen Rongke

Fujian - Lin Sichen, Huang Zhanyun

Guangdong - Xie Zhangtai, Huang Shizhong

Northeast - Dua Spring (To be continued......

PS: Note: The U.S. cotton production above is "10 million bales, 50 million pounds", which should be "10 million bales, 5 billion pounds." "It is hereby corrected!