Chapter 56: Red Fame

"Dong, ding, ding" the floor sounded, and then the door of Duan Qirui's study was pushed open with a bang.

In the study, Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng were still thinking hard about what the red revolutionary was. They looked up together and saw Duan Qirui's brother-in-law Wu Guangxin standing there with a red face, holding a newspaper in his hand, pointing at them, and gasping loudly.

"Zhi, Zhiquan, something happened! Your Majesty, the Majesty is kidnapped!"

Before Duan Qirui could react, Xu Shuzheng suddenly stood up, walked to Wu Guangxin a few steps, snatched the newspaper in his hand and saw it. It was a Tianjin version of the "Ta Kung Pao". The front page was published in black and thick fonts, "Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Armed Forces - Red Brigade claimed that Emperor Xuantong was in their hands!"

Below the title is the general story written by the editor of Ta Kung Pao. It turned out that a mysterious man called the newspaper in Ta Kung Pao in the early morning, claiming to be the spokesperson of the Red Brigade, the Chinese revolutionary armed force of the workers and peasants. According to this person, last night, 108 Red Brigade soldiers, dressed up as eunuchs, broke into the Forbidden City from the Shenwu Gate of the Forbidden City, and arrested the Qing Dynasty Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi, who was planning a plot to restore the restoration! The reporter of the "Ta Kung Pao" stationed in Beijing also received rumors that "the emperor may be missing"...

Xu Shuzheng handed the newspaper with both hands to Duan Qirui and smiled bitterly: "Old Zhi! This Red Brigade is really bold. He tied up the emperor and even made someone call the newspaper... I have never seen such an arrogant kidnapper!"

Duan Qirui smiled slightly, took the newspaper and took a look, and threw it on the desk: "I'm afraid that it's not for a few small money, right? Now, the banner of the Red Brigade has been established!" Then he sneered a few more times: "It's good, so that the old and young men in the Qing Dynasty always think that it was the emperor kidnapped by me, Duan Zhiquan."

Wu Guangxin was stunned when he heard this. He walked to Duan Qirui and laughed in a low voice: "Zhiquan... Could it be that this emperor was really not kidnapped by you?"

Duan Qirui's brows frowned tightly and glanced at his brother-in-law: "Zi Tang, why did you have such an idea? I, Duan Qirui, have also been favored by the emperor... Besides, I have never heard of this red or something!"

"Have you heard of it?" Wu Guangxin picked up the newspaper, turned a page, pointed to an article on it and smiled: "Zhiquan, this is an article about the Red Revolution written by the editor of the Ta Kung Pao who specifically asked Mr. Zhao Junda, the president of Beiyang University... This red revolutionism began to become popular in Germany, France, and Britain. The major leaders of the red revolution in the international community are all Germans! Mr. Zhi, you have never heard of it when you were studying abroad in Germany?"

Duan Qirui touched his beard, as if he was recalling what happened in Germany. After a while, he still shook his head: "I can't remember, I really can't remember what kind of red revolutionaryism is there. The German school doesn't teach this... By the way! Is this red brigade or something? Could it be that Germany supports it later?"

I don’t know how Duan Qirui thought of it, but Xu Shuzheng and Wu Guangxin nodded in favor after hearing this. Xu Shuzheng said: “It is possible that it must be the Germans who heard that we were going to send troops to Europe to fight, so they supported China’s Red Rebellion!”

Wu Guangxin also said: "Zhiquan, it is a matter for us to oppose the restoration of the Qing Dynasty. However, we cannot take the matter of kidnapping the emperor into consideration. We must find a way to remove it!"

Duan Qirui nodded and agreed. After all, Beiyang is not the Kuomintang. The Beiyang bosses are all important officials of the previous dynasty. After all, they have been favored by the emperor. If they are involved in kidnapping the emperor, they will have to "combine Beiyang to deal with it"!

...

"Okay, okay! What a red brigade!"

In a garden villa at No. 7 Molier Road, Shanghai, a middle-aged man, slapped his desk and seemed to be unable to sit still. He stood up and walked around quickly. The middle-aged man was about fifty years old, wearing a suit and lace, with a moustache, with a slightly sallow face, but his expression could not be concealed. He was holding a yellow newspaper in his hand.

There was also a man in the study wearing a long blue cloth gown, with a pair of particularly wide forehead bones, and boundless glasses on his nose. He looked like a white-faced scholar. The white-faced scholar smiled at the middle-aged man and said, "Mr. Sun, the behavior and opinions of this Red Travel seem to be quite consistent with us. Do you think you can send someone north to contact us and develop them into our people?"

This middle-aged man turned out to be Sun Yat-sen!

He waved his hand: "Zhantang, it is certain to contact, but it is probably not easy to develop them into our people. After all, their opinions are not exactly the same as us."

"Zhantang" is the name of the white-faced scholar. This man's surname is Hu, his name is Hanmin, and he is Sun Yat-sen's number one confidant! As soon as Sun Yat-sen received a report on "Zhang Xun's restoration" and "the emperor was kidnapped" in Beijing, he immediately asked him to discuss it.

"Sir, you mean..."

Sun Yat-sen frowned slightly and hesitated a little: "If this Red Brigade is really like what the Ta Kung Pao said, they should be socialists or relatively radical socialists, and their style is not very suitable for China's national conditions."

Hu Hanmin smiled: "Sir, then we will send someone north to contact them. It would be good to form an alliance between the two sides. By the way, now Zhang Xun is in Beijing to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, which is also a rare opportunity for us, especially in Guangdong... If the war is together, we will have an excuse to recruit troops!"

"The army is to recruit our own army..." Sun Yat-sen stopped and looked at the southwest outside the window with his eyes fixedly. According to the caliber of later history textbooks, Sun Yat-sen seemed to have no idea of ​​developing his own armed forces. It was not until later that he opened the Whampoa Military Academy with the help of China GCD and the Soviet Union.

However, real history is often not developed according to textbooks. Sun Yat-sen is not a fool, so he would not understand the path of power from the gun? In fact, Sun Yat-sen's war skills are indeed not good, but he is not less interested in arming the army! Even when he is hiding in Shanghai, he still has an armed force that is still loyal to him - the Yunnan Army stationed in Guangdong controlled by Sun Yat-sen's confidant Li Liejun (pulled from Yunnan by taking advantage of the opportunity to defend Yuan and protect the country). This army was basically obedient when Sun Yat-sen was alive and was quite effective in helping Sun Yat-sen fight in the east and west. Moreover, the Zhu Peide (Fang Shengtao) division was even more loyal to Sun Yat-sen and the later Kuomintang reactionaries. It should be considered Sun Yat-sen's reliable armed force!

The "Defense War" triggered by Zhang Xun's restoration gave Sun Yat-sen a second opportunity to develop his own armed forces. The famous Guangdong clan in history was developed by the 20th battalion of civilian troops recruited by Sun Yat-sen's forces in Guangdong. Among them, Xu Chongzhi's troops were even a loyal follower of Sun Yat-sen.

Sun Yat-sen suddenly turned around and said to Hu Hanmin: "Prepare immediately, set off for Guangdong as soon as possible, and then telegraph Li Liejun to let the Yunnan Army stationed in Guangdong prepare for the Northern Expedition. Also, who will do the work of contacting the Red Brigade to the north? Do you have any suitable candidates?"

Hu Hanmin held the glasses on his nose and said carefully: "Most of our comrades are from the south. In Beijing, there may be no way in Tianjin... By the way, there seems to be a comrade named Jiang who followed Xu Ruwei (Xu Chongzhi) to Weixian, Shandong last year. He was the chief of staff of the Northeast Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army for a few days. He knew some people from the north, or sent him."

Sun Yat-sen waved his hand: "You said Jiang JShi? OK, this person is good, so let him go to Beijing to find a way. If you can contact the Red Brigade, try it out and see if they have the intention of working with us?"
Chapter completed!