1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 24

Wu Zifu retorted, "Why should we allow those bureaucratic groups to continue controlling the country when they have governed it so poorly, causing it to lose sovereignty and national humiliation?"

Zhao Yan was really having a headache, but considering that the other party called him "teacher," he patiently explained: "You are now a high-ranking member of the revolution, so why are you still looking at political issues from the perspective of ordinary people?"

Since the Opium War, were there no Han officials who resisted foreign aggression? You only see the superficial state of the Manchu Han officials' governance of the country, which resulted in the loss of sovereignty and national humiliation. Why don't you analyze the root causes?

The root cause was the corruption and incompetence of the Manchu Qing regime. They didn't care about the interests of the Han people at all, only about consolidating their own rule. With such a group of people in power, if you were to take over that position, could you make the country strong and prosperous for the people?

Our goal in this revolution is to overthrow and eliminate the Manchu Qing dynasty. The Manchu bannermen are our main enemies, and we must begin to learn to view issues from the perspective of the ruling class.

"To tolerate them now means to indulge them in the future, to continue promoting those who perform well and settling old scores with those who perform poorly, is that not acceptable?"

Wu Zifu stubbornly insisted, "But they are all corrupt officials. How can the country be governed well when surrounded by such a bunch of worms? Revolutionaries may be inexperienced, but at least they are honest and just!"

Good heavens, they used his own words against him! They used Zhao Yan's own words against Zhao Yan, and Zhao Yan almost fainted from exhaustion.

Clutching his chest, Zhao Yan was so angry his liver ached: "You unfilial disciple, are you trying to drive your master to his death?"

"Corrupt officials? Go ahead and arrest them if you want. I've said before that I won't investigate past events, but I didn't say I won't investigate future events."

"Those who are meant to be corrupt, whether it's the Qing Dynasty or a revolutionary republic, should continue to embezzle. When the time comes, their homes will be confiscated and their heads will be chopped off."

"But you can't generalize and condemn everyone. Besides, Wu Zifu, can you guarantee that if a party member gets a government position, then they are 100% clean?"

Zhao Yan was utterly speechless that Wu Zifu could somehow connect corruption in officialdom with the revolution.

This kind of thing is completely indiscriminate, okay? If capitalist officials are corrupt, do socialist officials not also embezzle? Even Nazi officials embezzled.

Using revolutionary ideals and party membership to distinguish between integrity and corruption is fortunate that you, Wu Zifu, have never met those who use party loyalty to guarantee that they have not embezzled, but Zhao Yan has seen far too many.

Zhao Yan, this professional swindler, has cheated on everything. He must have been a political swindler too—no, I should say a political broker!

No one understands the minds of those officials better than him. Corruption is not something that can be solved by ideology or party affiliation; it's an inherent part of human nature.

Zhao Yan felt that his student's mind was completely like a diode, and even doubted whether this guy was still worth saving. He had previously thought that this kid had good comprehension and was full of energy, and could be groomed as a successor.

But now Zhao Yan is completely shaken. What would happen if such a student took over his class in the future? It's hard to imagine.

Zhao Yan sat down weakly: "Wu Zifu, I'll say it again, I'll just speak plainly to you."

"The purpose of revolution is to seize power, much like pursuing a woman. Before you get her, you have to be gentle, deceiving, hugging, and coaxing her. Don't be afraid of her flaws, just bear with them!"

"Once I've got you, you can abuse me all you want. Once I'm married, you can do whatever you want with me!"

"Now that we've got power, we can mold it however we want. Purges, exiles, beheadings, even the extermination of nine generations of a family—it's all just a matter of a document and a list!"

"The most important thing now is to unite all forces that can be united, and then ruthlessly and thoroughly eliminate the Qing Dynasty, using the blood and flesh of the Qing to lay the foundation for the birth of a new republic."

To put it more bluntly, it means we'll drink from the same cup, but we'll fight without mercy!

"Spend more time reading books. There's nothing new under the sun. Our ancestors have already set the example; just learn from them, copy them, and you still can't do it?"

"I know you are very interested in proletarianism, but you can't think that just because you know a few phrases like 'Long live the proletariat' and understand the contradictions of the proletariat, you have grasped the proletarian revolution."

"Let me tell you, you're still a long way off. Your group isn't even beginners!"

"Do you understand the difference between metaphysics and dialectics? Do you understand true Marxist philosophy? Can you distinguish between materialism, idealism, and dualism?"

"You haven't even figured anything out yet, and you're already pontificating. The method of using Marxist philosophy is to connect theory with practice, not to use theory to directly determine practice!"

Fortunately, Wu Zifu only called Zhao Yan "teacher," otherwise Zhao Yan would not have wasted so much time on him. But having such a student was really too much trouble.

Wu Zifu was rendered speechless by the debate. As a disciple, daring to challenge his teacher in verbal sparring was commendable, but the result...

Zhao Yan waved his hand: "Go on, hurry up and do your job as a party representative well. If you don't understand anything, write to me and ask me. Don't come back without saying a word again!"

Remember, if any problems arise with the southward-bound army, you are the person primarily responsible. I will only hold you accountable!

Wu Zifu didn't say much, but simply bowed deeply to his mentor with his hands clasped, then resolutely turned around and walked out the door.

As Zhao Yan watched the student's departing figure, he vaguely sensed a rift forming between them. Suddenly, Zhao Yan regretted why he had instilled those proletarian ideas in Wu Zifu.

Originally, it was just meant to give them some direction, but they unexpectedly got completely caught up in it. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, Zhao Yan didn't know.

Chapter 43 Dress Change

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Wuchang.

A sudden cold snap swept through Hubei and Hunan provinces. It was already January, but a heavy snow suddenly fell.

The Revolutionary Army Headquarters had moved to Wuchang City along with Zhao Yan. Lieutenant Colonel Dai Mingde, covered in snowflakes, pushed open the door and entered the headquarters, brushing the snow off his clothes as he walked.

"My goodness, it's already spring and it's snowing so heavily. The weather this year is really strange." Lieutenant Colonel Dai Mingde came to his senses and saw several large bowls of glutinous rice balls on the conference table in the headquarters. His eyes lit up immediately.

The Yuanxiao in the South is the same as the Tangyuan in the North; they are the same thing. However, the Yuanxiao in the South is larger, about the size of a braised lion's head.

The bowl of glutinous rice balls, almost the size of a fist, was filled to the brim, and even the soup was sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Upon seeing the glutinous rice balls on the table, Dai Mingde immediately forgot about the documents in his hands, quickly grabbed some bowls and chopsticks, and moved closer to the table.

The piping hot glutinous rice balls burst open when you bite into them, the syrup mixed with peanuts, sesame seeds and lard overflowing into your mouth, burning you so much that you jump up and down, but you don't dare to spit them out, you just have to endure it.

After the initial heat subsided, the rich aroma of lard mixed with the unique fragrance of sesame and peanuts, along with the sweetness of white sugar, instantly brought me immense happiness.

"Awesome, this Lantern Festival is amazing!" Dai Mingde took another bite and quickly finished half of the glutinous rice ball. He became more and more addicted to it and finished off the glutinous rice ball, which weighed a full four ounces, in no time.

After slurping down the sweet, oily soup in his bowl, Dai Mingde immediately wanted to get another bowl.

Colonel Zhu Jing, the division's chief of staff, immediately smacked him with his chopsticks: "What are you doing? One for each of you. There are still more than twenty people on duty at headquarters who haven't eaten yet. You want another one?"

Dai Mingde awkwardly put down his chopsticks and laughed, "Why are you being so stingy? This is what we eat for the Lantern Festival. Why don't you tell the kitchen to cook a few more pots?"

Zhu Jing scolded, "What are you thinking about all day long? You even cooked several more pots! Do you think this is just cabbage stalks? It's made with the finest glutinous rice flour, lard, peanuts, sesame seeds, and white sugar!"

More than 50,000 officers and soldiers participated in the entire operation. Do you know how much that cost? The head of state only had one; how many would you like to eat?

After hearing this, Dai Mingde dared not say another word. If the head of state only ate one, who among his subordinates would dare to eat a second one?

"Then I'll have another bowl of soup, is that alright?"

Zhu Jing stared intently: "Just one bowl, no more than that, I'm watching!"

Dai Mingde picked up the spoon and scooped it up gently, just like serving his wife, and he managed to scoop up quite a bit of residue.

Zhu Jing said angrily, "Is this all the ambition you have? What about the red envelope and pork from the emperor?"

While slurping his soup, Dai Mingde said, "I got it! A hundred taels of silver in a red envelope, and 120 catties of meat, all the right amount and weight! My wife and children won't have to worry about anything this year."

I sold the meat, got all the money, and sent it back home.

Zhu Jing laughed: "You're a good kid at least you care about your family. You didn't learn from those idiots who took the money and went to brothels, only to get caught by the military police and fined half a month's salary each!"

"By the way, how are the troops below? Are they all satisfied?"

Dai Mingde laughed and said, "Satisfied? How could we not be satisfied? The white glutinous rice balls are a gift for everyone, and they're even bigger than the ones in our headquarters. The soldiers are laughing so hard their back teeth are showing."

"We've been traveling north all the way without a major battle. We've been fed and clothed well and received so much pay. Everyone's been asking me when we're going to fight! If we don't fight, we're starting to feel uneasy about living such good lives."

Zhu Jing nodded and said, "Excellent, commendable morale! Don't worry, there will be battles soon!"

"The Qing Dynasty's Beiyang Army is legendary, but we've never seen them march south. Chief of Staff, you said we're about to go to war, could it be?" Zhu Jing put down her chopsticks and asked.

Zhu Jing nodded: "That's right. The head of state has already made a decision. The Beiyang Army has been slow to move south, and it's not good to keep waiting. So let's just head north. It's not good to keep eating and drinking like this."

Dai Mingde was shocked: "Go north? Take the initiative to confront the Beiyang Army head-on? Can this work? Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army is no pushover. Their equipment, numbers, and personnel quality are all far superior to our rabble!"

Since there is time, why not quickly conduct retraining and equipment changes to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops?

"Moving north voluntarily doesn't offer much of a chance of success. What was the decision made by the higher-ups?"

Zhu Jing criticized, "You dare to question the head of state's decision?"

"The division commander and the two brigade commanders did not recommend taking the initiative to move north, but the head of state insisted on attacking. His reason was very good: politics determines military affairs, and this battle must be fought."

“The southern provinces have successively launched uprisings in support of the revolution, but we have remained inactive and haven’t fought a single decent battle. Do you think that’s reasonable?”

"The leader himself said that we should take the initiative and seize the strategic initiative. If we wait for the enemy to come to our door, we can only defend passively."

"We must fight politically. Even if we lose, it's okay as long as we're not completely wiped out. At least we can show the provinces that our revolutionary army is willing to fight!"

"Militarily, we should take the initiative to drag the battlefield out of Hubei and spare Hubei from the ravages of war. Since we are weaker than the Beiyang Army, we cannot stand still and wait to be attacked."

After pondering for a while, Zhu Jing said, "That makes sense. The leader's strategic vision is indeed better than ours. Taking the initiative to move north is definitely better than waiting for the enemy to come."

The snow won't last long; the Beiyang Army will probably be heading south in at most a month, or at least half a month. They won't have much time for training and development anyway.

"But shouldn't we start this equipment change? Putting aside everything else, every soldier in the combat troops should have a Hanyang rifle, right? Right now, there are still quite a few new recruits in the army who are carrying red-tasseled spears and ghost-head sabers."

Zhu Jing patted Dai Mingde on the shoulder: "Don't worry, the Führer has already considered this. The Frenchman Jean Sinor, the head of the external liaison office of the Revival Party, has arranged for a batch of weapons and equipment to be delivered to the dock tonight. You can go and receive them."

"The main task is to re-equip the First Division first. After the First Division is re-equipped, the Second, Third and Seventh Brigades will re-equip themselves with what the First Division has left, as well as the stockpiles from the Hanyang Arsenal and the Wuchang Armory."

"Changsha has mobilized another 50,000 reinforcements, all of whom came from various places. They are expected to arrive in Wuhan in the next day or the day after."

"You said you'd already sent out 70,000 or 80,000 troops, but now it's almost 150,000 or 160,000 again. The headquarters is struggling to keep track of the numbers every day. The personnel roster keeps changing and being added to, it's never-ending."

Dai Mingde said, "Come on, there's strength in numbers. The Beiyang Army is not to be trifled with."

"Hurry up, it's getting dark. Give me the list, I'll take some men to the dock to receive the equipment. Let's finish this quickly so we can get some sleep."

After receiving the acceptance documents and list at headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Dai Mingde went directly to the military camp, assembled a regiment of more than 5,000 men from the First Division, and marched in a mighty procession toward the dock.

The command requested that the takeover operation be carried out discreetly and thoroughly, preferably at night, to avoid disturbing others and to prevent Qing spies from discovering it and carrying out any sabotage.

The equipment this time was all raised by the Shanghai branch of the Fuxing Party and purchased from German trading companies. In those days, there was no arms embargo against China. As long as foreign trading companies could make money, they would do any kind of business!

They even dared to resell Chinese-made opium back to Europe, so it was only natural for them to transport arms from Europe to the Far East to make money.

The German trading company knew that the purchasers of this batch of weapons were the revolutionary army, but they accepted the order without hesitation and even expressed their willingness to cooperate further, saying that they would sell anything as long as there was money.

After all, China has been a long-time customer of German arms. Since the time of Li Hongzhang, China has been purchasing arms from Germany, even buying warships. What else is there that China cannot sell?

The total value of the military equipment sold to the revolutionary army this time was as high as 1.7 million taels of silver. This money was all raised by the Fuxing Party branch in Shanghai. The salt merchants' working capital was almost exhausted before they could raise this amount.

This batch of weapons includes 25,000 G98 Mauser rifles, 100 Maxim heavy machine guns, 200 Madsen light machine guns, and a total of 57 million rounds of ammunition.

In addition, twelve 75mm Krupp mountain guns were purchased, along with a large quantity of barbed wire, military boots, equipment, uniforms, and other supplies.

This order is quite large. If it weren't for the low production capacity of the Hanyang Arsenal, Zhao Yan would never have wanted to let foreigners make money. There's nothing he can do about it, since domestic arms dealers are so disappointing.

Late at night, the revolutionary army imposed a complete curfew on the dock where equipment was being unloaded, while the German cargo ship carrying munitions had arrived at the dock earlier that morning and had been quietly hiding there.

This arms deal began after the Changsha Uprising, but it involved a lot of haggling. The Germans initially offered a very high price, which Zhao Yan could not accept at all.

Finally, considering the prospects for long-term cooperation, Zhao Yan instructed the Shanghai branch to lower the price. The Germans, for the sake of future long-term cooperation benefits, agreed to reduce the price. In fact, this batch of weapons was supplied at cost price, with only the shipping cost being paid. Some items were not available in Germany and had to be purchased from other places.

The Germans also had a strong desire for the Far East market. They had almost no overseas colonies, and the only valuable one was the Qingdao colony.

Exploring the Far East market was crucial for Germany's domestic industries, which were in dire need of expansion. So even though the future of the revolutionary army was uncertain, the Germans were willing to support it. After all, the Qing Dynasty was essentially the British's watchdog, with the British taking the lion's share of the profits.

The appearance of a disruptive force, like a catfish stirring up the tightly knit market divisions in the Far East, would also benefit the Germans. As long as they don't lose money, what's wrong with giving it a try?

Chapter 44 National Industry

"This is going too far during a major battle! It's really going too far!"

Zhao Yan stared at the glutinous rice ball on his desk and couldn't help but complain to his subordinate, "This isn't a glutinous rice ball, it's clearly an eight-treasure pearl!"

Zhao Yan ordered that every soldier in the entire army receive a glutinous rice ball for the Lantern Festival, including himself.

But where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. The meatballs at the headquarters weigh four ounces each, while those at the grassroots level weigh six ounces each. The meatball on Zhao Yan's desk weighs a full three pounds and three ounces!

Everyone else's meatballs have thick skins and small fillings, but Zhao Yan's meatball has a thin skin and a large filling. The soup in which he makes the meatball is bird's nest soup, and the filling inside the meatball isn't just crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and white sugar, but eight-treasure filling.

Zhao Yan peeled back the meatball and took a look, feeling a little embarrassed.

Have the soldiers eaten enough?

The lackey Zhao Hao immediately replied, "Everyone's full, and they're all saying that Your Excellency keeps your word!"

Zhao Yan continued, "Have the people eaten their fill?"

Zhao Hao was completely stumped: "This..."

The local officials knew how to handle things: "Your Majesty, the people are full and are saying that the revolutionary army has arrived, and the sky over Huguang is bright."

Such polite words are just something they can say off the cuff. Do you, Zhao Yan, really have the ability to go out and take a look at every household?

Since the leader has asked this question publicly, just answer accordingly. Don't embarrass the leader. Didn't you see that Zhao Yan is just looking for an excuse to enjoy himself?

"Hmm!" As expected, after hearing the satisfactory answer, Zhao Yan began to enjoy the Eight Treasures Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls) without any hesitation.

Wuhan is still the best. The officials here know how to get things done, unlike those dullards in Changsha. Having lived in Changsha for so long, the best thing Zhao Yan has ever eaten is ginseng soup!

Those few bowls of ginseng soup every day were all made by Zhang Mingqi and Lu Zhaoxuan from their own homes. They couldn't bear to part with century-old ginseng, so they gave Zhao Yan American ginseng instead, purely out of fear that he wouldn't be able to handle it and would die.

Things were different when they came to Hubei. The officials in Changsha had all participated in the uprising and had all received a certain amount of initial shares. They were busy with their own business and didn't bother to curry favor with Zhao Yan.

But the officials in Hubei were much more attentive, providing Zhao Yan with all sorts of special treatments. Zhao Yan said no, but his actions betrayed his true feelings.