The true biography of Yaqiao, the first chivalrous king of the Republic of China

Chapter 40
At around 5:[-] a.m. the next day, Shanghai North Railway Station was filled with people coming and going, people catching the early train, picking up the station, selling snacks and breakfast, pulling rickshaws, fortune-telling, and soliciting guests for the hotel... The bustling bustle of people.

Huh—— A siren sounded like a guest on a long journey greeting Shanghai. At the station, all kinds of eyes, as if obeying orders, all turned towards the panting, slow-moving express.

After the 55th express train stopped, according to the usual practice, the floats and soft sleeper VIPs got off first, then hard sleepers, and finally ordinary passengers.

Zheng Baozhen's face was pressed against the glass of the car door, but no matter how hard he hit the flight attendant, he would not open the door.He saw Song Ziwen wearing a white sun hat and a white suit, guarding the left and right sides of the guards, and another man in the same dress hurried forward, scratching his heart and liver in a hurry, covered in sweat.He couldn't bear to think any more, and shouted at Hua Kezhi and Zhang Siming: "Hurry up and jump out of the window!"

Hua Kezhi and Zhang Siming immediately turned around and squeezed into the carriage with all their strength.The four men squeezed desperately, causing screams and abuse.With great difficulty, the four of them squeezed to a car window. Hua Kezhi and Zhang Siming opened the car window with strength from left to right; Zheng Baozhen stretched out his head, turned over and jumped off, and ran towards the exit; thereafter.The two stumbled and ran for five or sixty meters, and saw two men wearing sun hats and white suits a dozen meters ahead, who had almost reached the door of the waiting room and were about to leave the station.Zheng Baozhen's heart was beating wildly, and he couldn't hold back anymore, he drew out his pistol and pointed it at the sky above the two of them, "Let's go! Let's go!" Two shots.

As soon as the gunshots rang out, the station was in chaos.The crowd at the station is like a torrent that broke the embankment, rushing around...

The six guards around Song Ziwen heard the gunshot, turned quickly, and skillfully raised their guns in the direction of the gunshot to fight back; Zheng Baozhen and Yu Likui used the pillars on the platform to hide while shooting; the station policemen also drew their pistols and participated in the shootout.

Song Ziwen was a senior official after all, so he knew that the gunshots were probably aimed at him.Therefore, as soon as the gunshot was fired, he immediately lay down and pretended to be dead; but his companions were not so well-trained, and when they heard the gunshot, they ran away...

Xiao Peiwei, who was waiting in front of the waiting room, disguised as a station picker, was staring at the oncoming crowd, carefully identifying the faces he had seen in the photos.When the bullet passed through the sky above his head, he was a little caught off guard, and hurriedly pulled out the pistol hidden in his waist. Just as he saw a man wearing a sun hat and a white suit running towards the exit in a panic, his instinct told him to run away. Those who are guilty must be guilty; those who are guilty are the targets.So, he aimed at this suspected target with a single shot.The huge impact force of the bullet made the runner stagger as if he had been enchanted by someone. He put his hands on his chest and tried hard to stand still so as not to fall down.For a moment, Xiao Peiwei was not sure that the target he shot was Song Ziwen; behind "Song Ziwen", there was another man crawling on the ground, also wearing a white suit; according to the rules of assassination, innocent people should not be killed indiscriminately; Xiao Peiwei gathered himself together and wanted to determine whether the assassination target was wrong. In his trance, several bullets flew towards "Song Ziwen" one after another. He was overjoyed, "Yes, it is him!" So he did not hesitate , "Let's go, let's go" and fired two more shots.Cai Tiaohe and others also shot...

"Boom!" The smoke bomb thrown by the cover team exploded. Immediately, thick smoke filled the air, covering the exit from the station.After one or two minutes, the smoke slowly dissipated, and the assassin was gone.What was left at the station was a corpse bleeding from top to bottom, dozens of bullet casings that smelled like gunpowder smoke, as well as a mess of broken shoes, broken eggs, rotten oranges, and many mimeographs of "For the People, for the Sky" Leaflet, which reads:

We assassinated Song Ziwen not because we had any grievances with him personally, nor because we wanted to make a name for himself in history, but because Song Ziwen committed many injustices, bent the law for personal gain, was corrupt, and worked for tigers.We are carrying out the general will of the people, eradicating harm for the people and eradicating traitors for the country.We are telling all corrupt officials and dictators: what people are doing, the sky is watching; if you don’t rein in the precipice and change your mind, Song Ziwen’s today will be your tomorrow...

Chang Yuqing took all the brothers back to the Xinzha Lukou Grand View Garden Bathing Pool that he opened. They washed and rubbed again, and even asked the lady to massage.In the evening, there will be a celebration banquet, and bonuses will be given to the young people.

According to the usual practice, Wang Yaqiao's brothers hid separately, some went to the suburbs, some returned to their hometown, and some went to visit their relatives and friends... After the limelight passed, they would reward them according to their merits. According to prior arrangement, "Exit for the People, Act for the Heaven" was also arranged in advance. Xu Jigong, the owner of the Great China Records Company and the president of the Shanghai Relief Association, was invited to secretly send it to overseas Chinese in Japan and the Nanyang Islands for widespread publicity.Only Wang Yaqiao hid alone in the home of Weng Xuchu, a Cantonese in Ladu Road (now Xiangyang South Road) in the French Concession, waiting to confirm the result of the assassination.

On the morning of the 24th, as soon as he got up, he asked his servant to buy some newspapers.When he opened the "Report", he couldn't help being dumbfounded.In a report titled "Song Ziwen was in distress at the North Railway Station yesterday morning", the reporter wrote:
Minister of Finance Song Ziwen, confidential secretary Tang Yulu and six guards arrived in Shanghai by express train from Beijing (Nanjing) at 23:7 am yesterday (11rd).After getting off the bus, Song et al. went out of the platform, entered the lobby, passed the interrogation office, and in front of the waiting room, several thugs suddenly pulled out grenades, box cannons, and pistols and fired at Song. Song's guards also drew their guns and returned fire. Flying, the smoke filled the air, and the hall of this station suddenly turned into a battlefield.At that time, the passengers were leaving the station. After hearing the sound, they were frightened and scattered, and the order was in chaos.As a result, Mrs. Song survived, but secretary Tang Yulu was shot several times and died of her injuries at 30:[-] yesterday...

(End of this chapter)