Song Jiaoren's self-restraint was better than Huang Xing's, so Tao Chengzhang thought that after he verbally refused to cooperate with the Tongmenghui, Huang Xing would lose his temper first. He never expected that before Huang Xing spoke, Song Jiaoren had already slapped the table and stood up, "Brother Huanqing, these are all bastard words."

Tao Chengzhang first looked at Huang Xing; most of the surprise on Huang Xing's face was because of Song Jiaoren's intense performance. In fact, there were contradictions between Huang Xing and Sun Yat-sen, and Huang Xing's personal cultivation was not bad; he didn't get along well with gang members and international students like Chen Qimei either.

Turning his head back, Tao Chengzhang looked straight at Song Jiaoren. "Mr. Song, please enlighten me."

"Revolution is a major event. Minor details naturally cannot be ignored, but unity cannot be destroyed on the grounds of minor details. Now the Royalists and Constitutionalists are clamoring. Mr. Sun is exposing the face of these people's fake constitutionalism and real royalism in Japan. You are splitting the Tongmenghui and attacking comrades now; you are helping the enemy!" Song Jiaoren spoke very sincerely and painfully.

Hearing Song Jiaoren's words, Tao Chengzhang sneered. "If we can overthrow the Manchu Qing directly, what Royalists, Constitutionalists? These are not important. If Mr. Sun personally leads the Tongmenghui to fight on the battlefield of killing enemies, I, Tao Chengzhang, will follow without a second word. Mr. Sun watches others sacrifice in Japan, but regards himself as a revolutionary leader. I, Tao Chengzhang, just can't stand this."

Song Jiaoren said seriously, "We came back this time to launch an uprising..."

"Launch an uprising, very good, I support it!" Tao Chengzhang said loudly. "Our Restoration Society will absolutely not sit back and watch disadvantages. We send one hundred guns and ten thousand silver dollars as funds. What do you think, Mr. Song?"

Hearing there were guns and money, Huang Xing's eyes lit up. Every uprising he launched failed, and the guns accumulated with great difficulty before the uprising were lost completely after the failure. To contact the organization personnel again, a large sum of money was needed.

After hearing these words, Song Jiaoren's face became even gloomier. He had guessed that persuading Tao Chengzhang would be extremely difficult, but now he knew that the difficulty in reality was actually greater than imagined.

One reason why Sun Yat-sen and others could become leaders in the Tongmenghui was that Sun Yat-sen proposed the most complete revolutionary concept and propagated it very early, which could be said to be accumulated by qualifications. Another reason was that Sun Yat-sen was relatively capable of raising funds. This was also why Song Jiaoren could accept the fact that Sun Yat-sen's personal behavior was relatively romantic.

Song Jiaoren knew the situation of the Restoration Society very well. Because the Restoration Society had been promoting actual revolution, it was in desperate need of money and weapons and equipment. Sun Yat-sen didn't want the Restoration Society to grow big because there were many people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Tongmenghui. If the Restoration Society grew big, Sun Yat-sen's influence in Jiangsu and Zhejiang would naturally decrease. Song Jiaoren knew this struggle for interests clearly.

The reason why Song Jiaoren came to contact the Restoration Society personally this time was that after the rise of the People's Party, a political force completely unrelated to the Tongmenghui, the eyes of revolutionaries all turned to Anhui where the People's Party was located. Just now Tao Chengzhang said that after overthrowing the Manchu Qing, the Royalists and Constitutionalists were nothing great. This was true, but if the Manchu Qing fell, not only the Royalists and Constitutionalists, but the revolutionary parties in Japan would also have no value to speak of. If the People's Party, which had nothing to do with the revolutionary parties in Japan, took power, they would absolutely not recognize Sun Yat-sen's status as "Revolutionary Leader." The entire Tongmenghui would be completely marginalized.

Song Jiaoren believed that even if he endured some unhappiness temporarily at this time, he must cooperate with the Restoration Society, which was also in a weak position. The Restoration Society had connections and manpower. The Tongmenghui had certain financial resources and influence. If the two cooperated, they could contend with the People's Party. At that time, the whole situation would be different.

Tao Chengzhang proposed sending guns and money; this was not expressing goodwill at all, but "dismissing a beggar." If Song Jiaoren really took these guns and money, then the Tongmenghui would never be able to raise its head in front of the Restoration Society in the future. Tao Chengzhang's little trick couldn't fool Song Jiaoren at all.

Enduring the anger of being insulted, Song Jiaoren tried his best to say calmly, "Brother Huanqing, why be impulsive? We have differences; we can talk. We want to establish democratic politics; we ourselves must also have democratic consciousness first. Any differences can be discussed."

Tao Chengzhang vented just now, and the anger in his heart dissipated a lot. Plus he didn't dislike Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren originally. Seeing Song Jiaoren could swallow his pride quite well, he also softened a bit. Everyone sat down again, and Tao Chengzhang also said calmly, "To tell you the truth, when attacking Anqing at the beginning of the year, I followed Mr. Chen Ke of the People's Party on the front line. Although it was called a command post, Mr. Chen Ke commanded more than three thousand people, but the command post was only two or three *li* away from the front line. The gunshots were heard clearly. If the Manchu Qing had cannons in the city, one shot could hit our command post."

Listening to Tao Chengzhang's description, Huang Xing couldn't help exchanging a look with Song Jiaoren. They didn't know the real situation of the Battle of Anqing. Now listening to the introduction of Tao Chengzhang who was on the front line, several doubts were also revealed. In the rumors outside, the People's Party mobilized tens of thousands of troops. Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren had personally led uprisings; they knew what tens of thousands of people looked like. Both knew that the People's Party absolutely didn't have tens of thousands of troops.

But Chen Ke took Anqing with only more than three thousand people, which showed that these more than three thousand people were not troops pulled casually, but at least troops as well-trained and well-equipped as the New Army. Otherwise, attacking a city defended by three or four thousand people with only more than three thousand people would be simply a joke.

Tao Chengzhang didn't care about the views of these two. He continued to speak according to his own thinking, "Since that time, I knew that if we want to overthrow the Manchu Qing, hiding behind is absolutely not acceptable. Mr. Sun talks about equalizing land rights, and our Restoration Society also thought about eliminating mergers. We just talk about it, but the People's Party has already done this in Fengtai County, Anhui. The people there, regardless of gender or age, are all allocated three *mu* of land per person, and the government does not allow land to be transferred at will. Whether equalizing land rights or eliminating mergers, the People's Party has already done it. Their current situation was not achieved by speaking, but by doing. Two brothers, I advise you, don't hide in Japan all day calling on others to rise up in revolution. Doing it personally is better than anything."

"Does the People's Party also practice democracy?" There was uncontrollable excitement in Song Jiaoren's voice.

Tao Chengzhang sneered, "Brother Song, if you want to pick fruits in the name of a revolutionary pioneer, I think you'd better not humiliate yourself. The People's Party now has tens of thousands of elite soldiers under its command. Do you think Chairman Chen Ke and those people know less than you? I know Brother Song has a close relationship with Mr. Chen Tianhua, but Mr. Chen Tianhua refused to join the Tongmenghui back then and threw himself into the People's Party instead. Now Mr. Chen Tianhua will not cooperate with you again. Why waste this useless effort?"

Hearing Tao Chengzhang's words, Song Jiaoren shivered in his heart. Chen Tianhua gave up the readily available position of Minister of Propaganda of the Tongmenghui and risked great danger to return to Shanghai to follow Chen Ke. Now that the People's Party was obviously becoming successful, who Chen Tianhua would choose was self-evident. Moreover, although Chen Ke never propagated democratic republicanism, judging from Chen Ke's books, his understanding of democratic republicanism would absolutely not be worse than the Tongmenghui. Although he didn't know what banner Chen Ke would eventually raise, Song Jiaoren didn't think Chen Ke was the kind of character who could be persuaded by just a few casual words.

"Brother Huanqing, can we really not cooperate anymore?" Song Jiaoren asked again with slim hope.

Tao Chengzhang said sincerely, "We have different aspirations and paths, and our methods of doing things are even more diametrically opposed. Brother Song, some things cannot be forced."

After listening, Huang Xing showed a disappointed look on his face. Song Jiaoren could fully understand Tao Chengzhang's thoughts. The cooperation between Sun Yat-sen's faction and the Restoration Society was originally based on realistic interests. At that time, Sun Yat-sen hoped to obtain the status of the supreme leader of the revolution, while the Restoration Society hoped to obtain more realistic support. Various factions participating in the Restoration Society all had the idea of huddling together for warmth. As a result, everyone found that most of those gathered together were hedgehogs; they felt cold when apart, and felt painfully uncomfortable when together. The Restoration Society didn't get actual material support, so naturally they refused to carry the sedan chair for Sun Yat-sen for free. Withdrawing from the Tongmenghui was an inevitable matter.

On the matter of treating the People's Party, the starting points of the two revolutionary parties actually hadn't changed. The Tongmenghui now hoped to let the People's Party carry the sedan chair for the Tongmenghui, while the Restoration Society still hoped to get realistic support. This time the Restoration Society achieved its goal, so they naturally refused to let go of the big tree of the People's Party. And because the Tongmenghui had not contacted the People's Party, they hoped to get benefits even more eagerly.

This time Sun Yat-sen sent Song Jiaoren to contact the People's Party, offering conditions like the position of Vice President of the Tongmenghui. Sun Yat-sen even gave full authority to Song Jiaoren. If the People's Party was willing to let the Tongmenghui become some main officials of the Anhui government, then "anything can be discussed." The People's Party could occupy such a large territory in Anhui and have so many troops; as long as Chen Ke could let the cadres of the Tongmenghui get enough official positions and master real power, Song Jiaoren knew that Sun Yat-sen didn't mind letting Chen Ke become a very high-level cadre of the Tongmenghui. Although he didn't know what purpose Tao Chengzhang held, Tao Chengzhang also saw the purpose of Song Jiaoren's trip and tactfully persuaded Song Jiaoren to give up this plan.

Song Jiaoren knew that Chen Ke could never be a little doll at anyone's mercy, but the situation was already like this; even if there was only a glimmer of hope, Song Jiaoren had to try.

"Thank you, Brother Tao, for your advice." Song Jiaoren replied.

"Brother Song is too polite." Tao Chengzhang responded. He and the cadres of the Restoration Society treated Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren to a meal. When Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren bade farewell, Tao Chengzhang didn't ask them to stay. After sending the two away, Tao Chengzhang couldn't help saying to the Restoration Society cadres around him, "Does the Tongmenghui think Chen Ke is easy to fool?"

Some cadres of the Restoration Society were relatively sensible, while others didn't understand what exactly the Tongmenghui wanted to do. Tao Chengzhang explained to everyone the Tongmenghui's plan to use the influence of the People's Party to expand its own strength. Many people understood the reason.

"Even if we cooperate, what's wrong with that?" Chen Boping couldn't help asking.

Hearing this, Xu Xilin glared at Chen Boping, and even Qiu Jin's face looked ugly. Chen Boping didn't know what Xu Xilin meant, but people like Qiu Jin and Tao Chengzhang knew Xu Xilin's thoughts.

Chen Ke cooperated with Xu Xilin earliest. At that time, Chen Ke was alone, without relatives or friends, and even the initial money was exchanged by pawning a watch to Qiu Jin. If it were someone else, they would definitely choose to cling to the thigh of the Restoration Society in this situation, but Chen Ke didn't rely on anyone at all and carved out a world by himself. Every time Xu Xilin thought of this, he felt regret. He hated himself deeply for not recognizing talent. If he could do it again, he would absolutely not leave Chen Ke aside. Not only Xu Xilin, but even Tao Chengzhang often regretted it. If he hadn't been so self-righteous at that time, but paid more attention to Chen Ke and entrusted Chen Ke with heavy responsibilities, the one rising now would not be the People's Party, but the Restoration Society.

Even though they had helped Chen Ke so much, people including Xu Xilin couldn't say anything to Chen Ke. Because Chen Ke never took advantage of others. The money was pawned with a watch. Qiu Jin liked this watch very much, and a wealthy merchant once wanted to buy it for five hundred taels of silver immediately after seeing this watch. After Chen Ke made money, he also gave Xu Xilin a lot of money. Including Qiu Jin and Xu Xilin, they admitted that Chen Ke didn't owe them any favors. If just talking about normal personal interactions, Chen Ke paid more instead.

Tao Chengzhang got Chizhou city from Chen Ke. When the Hubei New Army attacked, Chen Ke even sent people to help the Restoration Society retreat. From the perspective of two political factions, the Restoration Society couldn't say that the People's Party owed the Restoration Society anything either.

Tao Chengzhang and others didn't know that this was actually not Chen Ke's political wisdom, but the political wisdom Chen Ke learned from Grandpa Mao and Premier Zhou. The Party in history never owed favors; personal interactions were personal interactions. When Grandpa Mao raised funds for overseas students to work and study in Europe, he borrowed twenty thousand silver dollars from Zhang Shizhao. Zhang Shizhao never thought of asking Grandpa Mao to repay this money. But Grandpa Mao always remembered. In 1960, when Grandpa Mao had royalties, he repaid 2,000 every year himself, and it took ten years to pay it off. After paying off the principal, he continued to give 2,000 yuan of interest every year until Zhang Shizhao died in 1973.

In interactions with foreign countries, the Party never owed favors either. Some people thought this was "slapping one's face to look fat" (puffing oneself up to look impressive), but the elders in Chen Ke's family never saw it this way. Chen Ke's ancestor pulled a rickshaw in Taiyuan, similar to a taxi driver now. The income was so-so. Whenever relatives and friends came to Taiyuan to make a living, his ancestor had nothing else to give, just a 50-jin bag of mixed flour of miscellaneous grains and white flour. At that time, fifty *jin* of flour could let a family eat for half a month no matter what.

Not only acting righteously, but as a rickshaw puller, his ancestor could let his two children study and go to university. But when mentioning this matter, the evaluation of his family elders did not boast about how capable he was, but said, "At that time, the Taiyuan foreign school didn't require tuition fees, only book fees. We could afford it."

Chen Ke's grandfather sometimes secretly talked about this matter, saying that those who went to missionary schools back then were either rich or noble. In the whole school, only the two brothers were children of "migrant workers entering the city," but the school uniforms were exactly the same. The two grandfathers wore school uniforms and didn't announce their family background themselves, so they were no different from other students. Not only that, when it was windy or rainy, when school was over, Chen Ke's ancestor wouldn't take a fare no matter how much money was offered. He would go to the school gate to pull his two sons back. When going, he still carried two sesame seed cakes in his arms, giving one to each child when they got on the cart. Outsiders thought these two children were from a wealthy family that could hire a rickshaw specifically for their own family.

Later, after Chen Ke's grandfathers graduated from the Railway University, they came back to open an auto mechanics repair shop. A few months later, they earned thousands of ocean dollars (silver dollars) a month, and the family business was quickly established and flourished. Chen Ke's grandfather married a female classmate he fell in love with in high school. In the early 20th century, regarding children's free love, Chen Ke's ancestors didn't say a word. The female classmate's family was the only daughter of a local big capitalist. No matter how many people proposed to the woman, the Chen family turned a blind eye to it. They had no plan to climb up the social ladder at all.

It wasn't until they had their own industry that the Chen family went to propose marriage. The other party knew the specific situation of the Chen family and agreed. A new family arose as the times required. After the Japanese invaded China, the two grandfathers didn't choose Yan Xishan, with whom they had friendship, but took the family business to defect to the Party.

So Chen Ke's family always educated children that as long as they knew how to work, they wouldn't lack money. As long as they knew how to live, they wouldn't be unable to enjoy the happiness of life. How many rich people accumulated money bitterly, and then bragged to each other about how rich they were in the business field; that was all fake. Letting their own children walk home in the wind and rain, Chen Ke's ancestor thought this was wrong. Earning less money is not a problem; what if my child falls and gets hurt?

Chen Ke didn't understand before. After arriving in this era, he suddenly realized. Owning a favor means borrowing without returning; borrowing without returning means having a beginning but no end. So Chen Ke himself absolutely didn't owe favors. He thought if pawning one watch wasn't enough, I could not wear a watch and sell all the watches. But as long as I rely on myself to work solidly and do proper business, and know where the interests of all parties lie, there is no hurdle that cannot be crossed.

Compared with the difficulties Chen Ke encountered, the Party was a hundred times more difficult than Chen Ke, yet even so, the Party still didn't owe favors. Chen Ke had his ancestor's experience and the Party's experience; Chen Ke simply wouldn't choose to owe others things.

This attitude made the Restoration Society very uncomfortable. On the one hand, they couldn't criticize Chen Ke; on the other hand, they had actually received great support from Chen Ke. If they made excessive demands on the People's Party again, everyone was a person who wanted face, and they really couldn't do such crappy things. The Restoration Society was not the Tongmenghui after all. The Restoration Society believed that its moral level was not bad.