The Republic is so violent

Chapter 62 The Man Who Destroyed the Empire (2)
When the young and inexperienced students were armed with live ammunition and searched and killed the flag soldiers everywhere, the aged soldiers had already thrown away their guns and fled Wuchang City in gangs. Maybe there will be a massacre of the city, so the mature people will run away if they can, and run if they can. If you really can't escape, you have to find a safe place to hide first.

The eighth town's new army was completely disintegrated, and the soldiers fled. The party members who walked together with guns became the masters of the city.

At this point, Wu Zhaolin's historical mission has been completed.

In the final analysis, the size of a career depends on the ability of a person.Xiong Bingkun can destroy a peaceful night, but he has no ability to destroy the tranquility of the ancient city.Wu Zhaolin was able to destroy the order in the ancient city of Wuchang, but he was unable to destroy the empire.

The Empire is still there, mighty and invincible.Unless someone who can destroy the empire can be found, otherwise, within three to five days at most, the power of the empire will be exerted on this ancient city, and the party members will be crushed under the gravity.

Who can find this person, who can control this war machine carefully built by Zhang Zhidong, and destroy the powerful empire?

This person must be found, and quickly.

The time left for the party members is extremely short and fleeting.

But where is he?

Inspecting Tang Qifa, Cheng Dingguo, and Ma Lao searched for the flag soldiers and cleared out the bandits who were looting indiscriminately. Suddenly, they saw a cook hurriedly carrying three suitcases. The three immediately stopped him and asked, "What are you doing?" Is it a thief?Taking advantage of the chaos and stealing other people's things?

The porter said: "Boss, don't scare me, this is my own home."

Cheng Dingguo sneered: Judging by your clothes, you are no more than a migrant worker, so how can you afford such a valuable suitcase?You said this suitcase is yours, so let me ask you, what is in the suitcase?
Inside the box... I don't know what it is.The porter is speechless.

It really is a thief!Cheng Dingguo was furious: Thieves are the most hateful thing. We have a bloody revolution, but you take advantage of the chaos to rob and steal, let people call us a revolutionary party... shoot this guy immediately!
Don't, don't, don't... The porter panicked: This box actually belongs to my master, and I carried it back for the master, so it's not wrong to say that this box is mine, but I really don't know what the master put in it.

Who is your master?Cheng Dingguo asked.

This... the porter shook his head: Master won't let me say...

If you can't tell who the owner is, you are a thief!Cheng Dingguo raised his gun: shoot immediately!

The porter is in a hurry: don't shoot... I said, I said, my master is Li Yuanhong...

Li Yuanhong?In an instant, everyone's eyes lit up: they finally found him.

(7) Who did he kill?

But Li Yuanhong was sleeping soundly at home that night when suddenly the phone rang and someone reported that there was a mutiny in the engineering battalion.Li Yuanhong smiled and said: The children are young and like to make troubles, so let's make trouble, and when they get tired of making trouble, it will stop.Put down the phone and go to sleep.

Not long after, the phone rang again, and this time it was reported that the No. 20 No. 40 Mixed Composition Association under the jurisdiction of Li Yuanhong, the workers, the supply teams and the artillery team were all reversed.Hearing this news, Li Yuanhong didn't dare to sleep anymore, got out of bed, put on his clothes, and ordered people to summon all the officers and assistants of No. [-] who were still in the battalion in the conference hall.All the generals came, waiting anxiously for Li Yuanhong to speak, but Lao Li just drank tea slowly without saying a word.

Li Yuanhong's purpose was to gather in an orderly manner to prevent sudden incidents.

The generals were sitting in a daze, when suddenly there was a commotion outside, and a person was escorted in by the guards.

This person is Zhou Rongtang, a soldier in the engineering battalion, a member of the Revolutionary Party.After Xiong Bingkun launched a disaster in the engineering battalion, he was sent to notify No.20 to respond.Zhou Rongtang climbed over the wall, but was caught by the guards and turned to Li Yuanhong.

After Li Yuanhong asked Zhou Rongtang's purpose clearly, he stood up with a saber in his hand, hacked Zhou Rongshang to death, and then looked around at the generals present: I know that everyone present here has his accomplices, but if anyone dares to fight against me If there is trouble in the camp, this person is his end.

Killing one to warn others, killing the party member Zhou Rongtang with his hands, frightened the generals present, and no one dared to make any changes.

But the party member killed by Li Yuanhong has become an unsolved case: Xiong Bingkun recalled that the party member's name was Zhou Rongtang.However, in the two books "True History of the Wuchang Revolution" and "Records of Hubei Revolutionary Knowledge", it is said that this party member is called Zhou Rongfa.Zhou Rongtang and Zhou Rongfa are relatively close, but there are books that say that the party member Li Yuanhong killed was called Zou Yuxi, and other books swear that the person Li Yuanhong killed is named Zhang Licheng...

So this Li Yuanhong, who did he kill?

Having said that, the order in Wuchang is already in chaos, and it is impossible to restore it to its original state, which means that everything before it will eventually be irretrievable—and there is no need to retrace it.

After stabilizing the situation in the conference hall, Li Yuanhong breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, Chuwangtai and Snake Mountain suddenly fired artillery at the camp. It is not clear whether anyone was killed by the artillery. Anyway, the soldiers in the camp were clamoring in unison. Let’s get up, everyone doesn’t want to be killed by the artillery of the revolutionary party. Rather than being killed by others, it is better to rush out of the barracks and kill others.

The soldiers clamored and the situation got out of control. Li Yuanhong had to speak at this moment.

Li Yuanhong said:

You generals, return to the camp for now, take your troops out of the barracks, find a safe place to hide, and don't let the cannons hit you.If you can maintain the emotions of your subordinates and live up to the grace of the emperor, then I, Li Yuanhong, will be extremely grateful.If you can maintain the situation and avoid letting subordinate soldiers participate in the rebellion, the imperial court will definitely reward you—but if you cannot control the army yourself, or if you are also involved in the rebellion, then I Li Yuanhong will no longer be able to take responsibility for you.

After giving these instructions, all the generals left anxiously. Only the deacon Wang Wenlan and the staff Liu Wenji did not leave. Liu Wenji said to Li Yuanhong: Li Xietong, your home is inside the Zhonghe Gate. Zhonghe Gate must be the first to bear the brunt. According to the two of us, it is better to go to my house to take refuge for a while. My family lives in Huangtupo, which is remote and safer. Zhou used his wealth and life to protect Li Xietong.

After hearing this, Li Yuanhong was moved and said: Xiao Liu, as the ancients said, the strong wind knows the strength of the grass, and the sternness knows the sincerity of the officials.When I treated you in the past, it might not be better to those people outside, but look at those people outside, they are so kind and earnest, they just can't listen to a word, they have to beat and kill...

Wang Wenlan and Liu Wenji hurriedly said: Don't be sad about Li Xietong, even if it's not for yourself, you should also think about your family, right?Just follow us to Huangtupo.

So Li Yuanhong's family, under the protection of Liu Wenji, moved to Huangtupo.When he arrived at the place, Li Yuanhong said: "Xiao Liu, I am your old officer after all. I can't let you pay for food, clothing and housing. I will come... By the way, I was in a hurry before I left. I didn't bring any money from my family." Come... I have it, I will ask the porter to fetch it for me when I go home.

In the end, because of this porter, the party members finally traced Li Yuanhong's whereabouts, and followed.

(8) Logical analysis of the revolution
Or say: Li Yuanhong is not a revolutionary party, he even killed one party member, but why do other revolutionaries insist on him coming out to revolution?
The reason can be explained in two words:
age!

What does age mean?
This means that as long as a young man has a sense of righteousness and sees many injustices in reality, he will have a revolutionary idea and have an urge to redefine the rules of the game for the world.

Furthermore, the rise of revolutionary thoughts in the late Qing Dynasty was the beginning of China's transition from the agricultural era to the commercial era.The laws of the commercial age and the agricultural age are completely different.In the agricultural era, the family was the unit of production and life. A man who had just grown into his teens was ignorant and ignorant, unable to distinguish between east, west, south, and north. According to the order of the old patriarch, work at sunrise and rest at sunset.Young people at this time are under the oppression of the old big family. Even if they have any desire for revolution, they must first break through the feudal big family. There are big and small families that are the same as where I live, and I am alone, with nothing to eat or drink, so I can only become a vagabond in society, dying day and night, and starving on the streets.

But in the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese society began to transform from the agricultural era to the commercial era. The original agricultural family began to disintegrate. Teenagers were thrown into the society. People care about their food and drink, and everything depends on themselves. It stands to reason that the commercial age is a good time for young people to struggle, but China is in poverty. A young man fights the world with bare hands, and there are dozens of them. Years, or a lifetime, can gain a little bit of social status and fill one's belly.

However, when a person is young, it is the time when all kinds of desires are pouring out, wanting love, wanting women, wanting money, wanting territory, wanting power, wanting to command the world, wanting to win everyone's respect for him... But empty-handed There is absolutely no way for a young man with bare fists to obtain these.

By the time they get these, they're old.

There are also a very small number of young people who are clever and able to rely on the system to get a piece of the pie, which solves all their desires. If they have money, territory, and women, they can also win the respect of others.

But for the vast majority of young people, either because of different personal values, or because of deviations in ability orientation, or because of wrong opportunities, in short, the vast majority of young people need a long period of time to succeed in society. process.They have to face the embarrassment of such a life:

When they are young and have enough energy to satisfy their desires, they lack such conditions.And when they have the conditions, they no longer have desires.

How can we create conditions to satisfy our desires when we still have desires?

The answer is to subvert the old social order and connect one's desires with the conditions for satisfying them.

If this kind of subversion of the old social order is done by a single person and a gang, it is a robber and a bandit.If it is done by a group of people, it will be a revolution.

So, the so-called revolution is the revolution of the younger generation against the old—when did you see a group of old men make a revolution?

In this way, the revolutionaries have entered a divergent path. The young people who have devoted themselves to the revolution are obsessed with subverting the old social order and full of good expectations for the future.But what young people don't know is that the old social order was not formulated by anyone. It was a balanced layout of the game forces of the entire society. This balanced layout is dominated by human nature. Even if it is not perfect, it has a powerful effect stabilization function.

And this means that the social order after the revolution is no different from the social order before the revolution. It must be a hierarchical social structure. The only difference is who lives at the pinnacle of power.

In fact, the vast majority of revolutionaries only have the violent impulse to subvert the old social order, but lack the creativity to build a new social order. Destruction is easy, and one person can burn the supervisory office, but construction is not. one person's work.

On the day of the First Uprising, Wuchang was facing the reality of bandits, indiscriminate killings, and large-scale fleeing of soldiers and civilians. Construction at this time meant stopping all of this—it’s not something you can stop if you want to. At this time, what is needed is no longer It is the violent impulse, but the prestige of a man among the people.

Revolutionaries are undoubtedly experts in destruction, but when it comes to construction, they are helpless.Even if they know what to do, it is in vain, because they lack prestige, and the people don't even know who they are, so no one will heed their orders.

If the revolutionaries wanted to stop the chaotic situation in Wuchang City and stabilize the revolutionary situation, they had no choice but to urge Li Yuanhong to come out.

The indiscriminate killing of the Bannermen will not stop if the Li family does not come out. After more people and rebels flee, the city will fall into moral isolation and become the target of public criticism.

The tragedy of society is that young people join the revolution because they lack the ability to build.And when they have the ability to build, they will find that they have become the target of the revolution of the new generation of young people.

But we must make it clear that true revolutionaries are precisely selfless. For example, Ji Hongjun, who died in the supervisory office during the uprising, sacrificed himself for the revolution, obviously not to satisfy his own self-interest—but as we all know As you can see, altruistic revolutionaries will sacrifice themselves in the course of the revolution and become blood sacrifices. In the end, most of the people who share the fruits of the revolution are not altruists, but speculators.

This is the tragedy of the victim, who died only for the egoists.

The truth of the revolution is one thousand, ten thousand, just one sentence, rebellion is justified.

The principle of construction is one thousand, ten thousand, but also one sentence: restore order.

(9) How is the revolution?

Tang Qifa, Cheng Dingguo, Ma Lao and other party members held guns and escorted porters to Liu Wenji's house in Huangtupo.Li Yuanhong heard the commotion outside, and knew that it would be useless to hide any longer, so he came out and scolded all the party members: You are all my subordinates, and I, Li Yuanhong, lead the troops. I'm afraid I can't be called mean?Why do you have to kill me?

Everyone laughed and said: I won't kill you...

Li Yuanhong: It would be strange not to kill him!
Everyone: ... really don't kill...

Li Yuanhong: Since you didn't kill them, what did you do with your guns and live ammunition?
Everyone: ... Don't misunderstand Li Xietong, we are here to urge Li Xietong to come out and preside over the big plan...

Li Yuanhong: Let me talk nonsense again, you revolutionaries are full of talents, what do you want me to do?
The crowd said: Li Xietong has won the hearts of the people with his kindness, but the purpose of our revolution is to kill all the bannermen and fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty.We revolutionaries, like Li Xietong, are all Han Chinese and belong to the descendants of Yan and Huang.With the prestige of Li Xietong, it seems that he will not disappoint us and leave us alone.Let Li Xietong come out and lead the revolutionary plan.

Li Yuanhong was silent for a while, then asked: "Where do you want me to go?"

Everyone said: You can go to Chu Wangtai first and discuss with the commander-in-chief Wu Zhaolin.

Li Yuanhong was delighted when he heard it: It turned out to be Wu Zhaolin, he is my student, I know his military ability, he is enough, I will not go.

Hearing Li Yuanhong's words, he knew that he had no intention of participating in the revolution. Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what to do.At this time, the party member Cheng Dingguo was in a hurry. He took a step forward with his gun and pointed the gun at Li Yuanhong: Li Xietong, listen carefully. If you revolutionize with us, you will still be our good officer. If you don’t agree, don’t blame us for being rude. .

Li Yuanhong changed color: What do you want?

Cheng Dingguo yelled: If you revolutionize with us, you will live, if you don't revolution with us, you will shoot, Li Xietong, you can weigh it yourself.

Li Yuanhong was dumbfounded: Look... what are you doing in such a frenzy? I didn't say no.

Just go!The crowd rushed forward, put on Li Yuanhong's mandarin gown and robe, and put a melon-skin cap on his head, and rushed out to help Li Yuanhong get on his horse.Ma Rongfei, a party member over there, ran back to Chuwangtai to deliver the letter. Wu Zhaolin was overjoyed when he heard that Li Yuanhong had come out of the mountain. Show grand meaning.

Receiving such a grand welcome, Li Yuanhong felt at ease, knowing that it was unlikely that this guy's evil star would kill him suddenly, so he waved to the soldiers with a smile: "Brothers have worked hard."

Soldier: Thank you sir.

Li Yuanhong: After a night of fierce fighting, the brothers got tanned.

Soldier: Sir, it's darker...

Wu Zhaolin ran over in two steps in three steps, and after paying the military salute, he said loudly: "I invite Li Xietong to watch the battle on the tower of Zhonghe Gate."Li Yuanhong nodded, was helped off his horse, and climbed up the Zhonghe Gate tower with Wu Zhaolin. On the way, he asked Wu Zhaolin in a low voice: "Wei San (Wu Zhaolin's word), I said how can a party member become a climate? It turns out that it is you." I'm making trouble, I said, are you short-hearted? How did you interfere with this decapitation?

Wu Zhaolin blushed, and said: Li Xietong, I was also forced by others, and things happened helplessly.

Helpless your size!Li Yuanhong sneered: You act like I don't know, obviously you ran out by yourself, and the Revolutionary Party didn't force you to do it.

Wu Zhaolin said: ...how can I be blamed for this?I just want to compete with Zhang Biao.

Li Yuanhong said coldly: You have lost all my face, right?
Wu Zhaolin hurriedly said: Teacher, Zhang Biao was the one who fled.

Li Yuanhong nodded gratifiedly: ... Well, it's almost the same... Zhang Biao escaped, but what kind of reform is this fate?

(10) Clean up the mess for young people
Li Yuanhong and Wu Zhaolin traveled all the way. At first, there was only a row of soldiers protecting them, followed by a few party members, but as the team left, more and more people came. Many strange people came out of nowhere and joined the team. .Look carefully at these strange people, all of them are senior officers of the Eighth Town.These people were all in hiding, but when they heard that Li Xietong had come out of the mountain, they ran out in a swarm.

They came out only because Li Yuanhong was here, and if Li Yuanhong asked them to revolutionize, they would revolutionize, and if they were asked to suppress the revolution, they would immediately obey orders—this is Li Yuanhong's prestige and power, if he is willing, he can cooperate with Zhang Biao to lead Wuchang's revolution Suppression, but he refused, so he won the support of the party.

Li Yuanhong's reluctance to suppress the revolution was due to his flesh-headed personality, not because he had any fondness for the revolution.He is a typical kind-hearted person. He only knows that the soldiers in the army are brothers and sisters, and it is natural to solve their problems. He can't do such a thing by dyeing his own head with a brother's head.

The old man of Xinhai recalled that Li Yuanhong was a strange man who made the military camp his home. Although his home was near the military camp, he slept in the military camp every day. What he liked most was that the brothers in the whole camp gathered around the big stove and ate the big pot happily. ...In short, Li Yuanhong regards the military camp as his home and regards himself as the head of this big family. It is this mentality that determines his various choices before and after.

He will not follow young people to fight indiscriminately and make revolution, but he is destined to clean up the mess for these young people, and then suffer complaints and dissatisfaction from young people.

(End of this chapter)