While the Military Commission formally determined the campaign model for the Second Counter-Encirclement Campaign, the envoy sent to visit the Guangfu Society had arrived at his destination, Shaoxing.

Shaoxing now had the flavor of a revolutionary center in Jiangnan. There were many slogans of "Down with the Manchu Qing, Create a Republic" on the streets, and revolutionaries shouting themselves hoarse doing propaganda on street corners. It must be explained that this was not a strange sight in the late Qing. Historically, after Qiu Jin was arrested, the Shaoxing Prefect Gui Fu killed Qiu Jin. Local gentry raised protests, striving to "rehabilitate" Qiu Jin. The gentry's reason was simple: "Qiu Jin was only inciting revolution, not actually rebelling. And without a confession, the Manchu Qing killing Qiu Jin was killing an innocent person indiscriminately." Leaving aside whether Qiu Jin was innocent, posting slogans and doing revolutionary propaganda in the city was really quite a common thing.

The reason Shaoxing city was different was that those guarding the city gates and patrolling the city in formation all had short hair. Moreover, from a military perspective, the deployment of these people had quite a few commendable points.

The People's Party envoy was named Cheng Mingmiao. Before he arrived in Shaoxing, Chen Ke had already contacted the Guangfu Society through the liaison station. Guangfu Society comrades welcomed Cheng Mingmiao early on. Originally, the Guangfu Society comrades wanted to take Cheng Mingmiao directly to the Guangfu Society headquarters, but Cheng Mingmiao proposed to go look at the gate of the Shaoxing Prefect's Yamen.

"Mr. Cheng, what is there to see?" Although saying this with his mouth, the voice of Chen Boping, who was responsible for reception, had a feeling of pride. Arriving at the gate of the Prefect's Yamen, they saw that those guarding the gate were no longer Qing soldiers, but armed personnel with short hair.

Cheng Mingmiao smiled and asked: "This Prefect is still inside, right?"

"That's right. Because the Lord Prefect is in poor health, government affairs are now handled by deputies." Chen Boping answered very appropriately.

Hearing this, Cheng Mingmiao nodded vigorously.

In the few months in Chizhou, the main cadres of the Guangfu Society had personally experienced how difficult it was to operate a local government. A few months of arduous practical experience was more effective for those willing to learn than studying books for a few years. This uprising of the Guangfu Society on its own turf showed considerable progress. Although they still hadn't been able to deepen their strength into the countryside, at any rate, before the revolution, the Guangfu Society had already built corresponding departments in a tit-for-tat manner and actually controlled a considerable part of the real power in Shaoxing city.

There was also some luck in the success of these actions. Before the start of the Second Counter-Encirclement, the Manchu Qing troops in Jiangnan had already begun to contract comprehensively. This wasn't the local troops slacking off; because once the Ninth Town of the New Army in Nanjing crossed the river north, Jiangnan would be completely empty. The Manchu Qing's military strength could at most be used to guard strongholds. At this time, the Guangfu Society took the lead in seizing control of Shaoxing and encountered basically no resistance.

Cheng Mingmiao felt the Guangfu Society had a bit of the flavor of learning from the People's Party. The development of the People's Party in Fengtai County also seized control of the county town first. Thinking this in his heart, Cheng Mingmiao didn't make any comments. He came to visit the Guangfu Society to request cooperation, not to inspect as a high official. Dictating to the Guangfu Society was a very impolite action.

Tao Chengzhang received Cheng Mingmiao in the Datong School. As the "Cadre School" of the Guangfu Society, the status of the Datong School was quite critical now. After the two sides met, there was no superfluous nonsense. Cheng Mingmiao handed Chen Ke's handwritten letter to Tao Chengzhang and then waited quietly.

After reading the letter, Tao Chengzhang passed the letter to Zhang Taiyan beside him. He looked at Cheng Mingmiao with burning eyes. "Mr. Cheng, your party's Chairman Chen is always so polite."

Cheng Mingmiao smiled: "Everyone wants to overthrow the Manchu Qing; such matters still need the cooperation of Guangfu Society comrades."

Chen Ke didn't make excessive demands in the letter. He only hoped that the Guangfu Society personnel in the Jiangnan New Army would vigorously propagandize "waiting for the opportunity to act," letting these people incite a "bystander mood" among officers and soldiers. Ever since the People's Party annihilated the seven thousand Hubei New Army troops in Hefei and Anqing, the various Qing armies lost their arrogance when facing the People's Party. What Chen Ke wanted to utilize was this attitude. Historically, the Qing army didn't coordinate operations to begin with. Chen Ke only hoped they would maintain this tradition; when the People's Party dealt with the Beiyang New Army with full force, other New Armies could just watch the battle.

The current Qing army was like the troops of various warlords and the Kuomintang later; if one wanted to fight a tough battle, one had to give rewards. The Kuomintang scattered silver dollars widely before moving out back then, and the current New Army was about the same. Chen Ke didn't plan to use too much strength to deal with the Jiangnan New Army. Besides military action, if this bystander mood could be strengthened and incited in the New Army, the effect would naturally be better.

Tao Chengzhang didn't understand Chen Ke's plan too deeply. He just felt Chen Ke's style of never making excessive demands was very satisfying. The only thing that made Tao Chengzhang regretful was that the request Chen Ke made was a bit too simple. Sending someone specifically for such an easy thing casually showed Chen Ke's degree of importance, but the Guangfu Society couldn't claim any kindness to the People's Party because of this favor.

"I wonder if Chairman Chen has other words for Mr. Cheng to bring?" Tao Chengzhang asked.

"The things Chairman Chen wanted to say are all written clearly in the letter; there are no other matters for me to handle." Cheng Mingmiao confirmed his mission again.

While speaking, the main cadres of the Guangfu Society had already finished reading the letter. Zhang Taiyan said: "Does Mr. Chen not want us to send troops to help?"

"If the letter didn't say it, then there isn't. I'm only responsible for delivering the letter." Cheng Mingmiao laughed.

Although the Guangfu Society cadres were deeply impressed by the People's Party, the only ones who had truly dealt with Chen Ke were Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin, and Qiu Jin. Chen Ke's request was so low that quite a few Guangfu Society cadres couldn't quite believe it. Even if Chen Ke didn't send someone specifically to contact them, the Guangfu Society would have done this anyway. They could all distinguish the basic situation. If the People's Party were crushed, the pressure on the Guangfu Society would definitely increase sharply. The Guangfu Society wouldn't shed blood and sacrifice for the People's Party; they could only try their best to prevent the Jiangnan New Army from attacking the People's Party with full force.

Seeing the doubtful gazes of the Guangfu Society cadres, Cheng Mingmiao smiled: "Gentlemen, there is another matter I should mention. Some time ago, Mr. Huang Xing and Mr. Song Jiaoren of the Tongmenghui arrived in our base area and invited us to join the Tongmenghui. Chairman Chen has already rejected this matter. Although this matter has nothing to do with the war about to happen, since the Guangfu Society has already withdrawn from the Tongmenghui, we can't fail to tell everyone about this matter."

"Hmph hmph." Tao Chengzhang gave a cold laugh. He knew the People's Party would absolutely not join the Tongmenghui, so he just gave a cold laugh. "Mr. Cheng, let me introduce you. These are our Guangfu Society comrades."

After the introduction, everyone naturally had to talk to each other. The Guangfu Society cadres began to ask about the People's Party base area, either intentionally or just out of curiosity. Cheng Mingmiao explained everyone's questions in words the Guangfu Society could understand. During this Q&A, Cheng Mingmiao realized that Chen Ke's evaluation of the Guangfu Society before he came really hit the mark. Chen Ke's original words were: "The Guangfu Society is a very unprofessional organization."

Where the difference between "professional" and "unprofessional" lay, Cheng Mingmiao didn't understand. Cheng Mingmiao was just a not very outstanding mid-level cadre in the People's Party. He also felt there were many problems in his daily work; he hadn't learned many things of the Party organization, let alone understood them effectively. He originally thought he might not be able to see through problems like Chairman Chen, but shortly after talking with the Guangfu Society, Cheng Mingmiao felt where the gap between the two sides lay.

Regarding practical problems, the Guangfu Society only saw what could be seen with the naked eye. Regarding the conflicts and contradictions hidden under the appearance, the Guangfu Society rarely paid attention. Cheng Mingmiao felt the Guangfu Society cadres considered conflict and contradiction a problem that couldn't be put on the table for discussion. The People's Party was completely different; the People's Party's work was to find contradictions, then analyze contradictions, and finally find methods to solve contradictions.

This difference, which seemed like the People's Party focused on "abstract principles" and the Guangfu Society focused on "practical matters," when really applied to specific problems, the superiority was immediately decided. After the People's Party encountered a problem, through analysis of internal contradictions, various specific methods to solve the problem came out immediately.

For example, the rural issue the Guangfu Society cared about considerably; they hoped the People's Party could give various suggestions. But the reason Cheng Mingmiao was considered "not outstanding" in work was that his performance in rural work wasn't good. Even Cheng Mingmiao, who wasn't highly evaluated in the People's Party, hearing the Guangfu Society talk big about going to the countryside to propagandize revolution, uniting gentry, and forcibly cutting queues, also felt these Guangfu Society members full of enthusiasm in front of him were a bit too childish.

Cheng Mingmiao could be selected as a messenger not because the People's Party treated this job as a "demotion" post. Acting as a messenger required the ability to tell lies with eyes open, and Cheng Mingmiao happened to have this aptitude. Although this aptitude couldn't effectively promote work at the grassroots level, it was a rare advantage in diplomacy. Although he had many thoughts in his heart, Cheng Mingmiao could answer or refuse to answer the Guangfu Society's questions with a serious and sincere attitude, politely and appropriately.

The People's Party had many meetings. Cheng Mingmiao didn't need to rack his brains to think of anything; he just needed to take out those words comrades said in his memory that had been proven wrong, and it was enough to make these people of the Guangfu Society resonate. regarding such a matter no different from deception, Cheng Mingmiao had no inner condemnation. He was originally delivering a letter; it was the Guangfu Society who wanted to pull him to chat idly. Since it was so, Cheng Mingmiao had absolutely no reason to spread the People's Party's political concepts. How good it was to let everyone be happy.

While the Guangfu Society comrades and Cheng Mingmiao "chatted happily," the Tongmenghui representatives Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, who had basically completely broken with the People's Party, returned to Tokyo to report work to the Tongmenghui. The withdrawal of the Guangfu Society actually dealt a bigger blow to the Tongmenghui than imagined. Since the Guangfu Society was a local force in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it had close relations with the gentry. And among the students in Japan, those from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who leaned towards the Guangfu Society were quite large in number. Moreover, at this time, there was another big problem: Sun Yat-sen accepted funding from the Japanese government without public discussion.

The Japanese government's shelter and support for Sun Yat-sen had a long history. According to credible historical materials, Sun Yat-sen established contact with the Japanese government in the first year he swore to overthrow the Qing court. In the years since, Sun Yat-sen traveled to and from Japan as if entering an uninhabited land. But at this time, perhaps because the Japanese government needed help from the Manchu Qing government on the issue of the Three Northeast Provinces, or perhaps because the constitutional movement led by the Qing government proceeded smoothly, giving the Japanese government new hope, they resolutely abandoned Sun Yat-sen.

Of course, the Japanese government didn't completely accept the Manchu Qing government's request to "deport" Sun Yat-sen. Actually, they were betting on both sides. They were unwilling to offend the Manchu Qing government just like that, nor were they willing to make things too difficult for Sun Yat-sen and the revolutionaries. Who knew what the situation would be like in ten or twenty years? So the Japanese government was unwilling to use coercive means to oppress Sun Yat-sen. Instead, through Toyama Mitsuru, a Japanese person close to Sun Yat-sen and the revolutionaries, they persuaded him to leave voluntarily, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a commercial institution each provided 18,000 yuan in funding. For the Japanese government, this method of pleasing both sides offended no one. They could explain to the Qing government: after all, you asked Sun Yat-sen to go, and he left. It was also easy to talk to Sun Yat-sen: look, there's really no way, avoid it for a while. Anyway, Japan's door is open to you; Mr. Sun can still come back when the environment changes in the future.

In history, this event directly led to the Guangfu Society announcing its withdrawal from the Tongmenghui. But in this era of Chen Ke, the Guangfu Society was because they couldn't accept Sun Yat-sen's attitude of hiding overseas to make revolution. Plus the Yue Wang Hui, which bore the name of the Tongmenghui at the time, once occupied Anqing and had many conflicts with the Guangfu Society, so there was no cooperation to speak of. These things all led to the Guangfu Society's utter disappointment with the Tongmenghui.

Now Sun Yat-sen still took this funding from the Japanese, and the Japanese spoke so sincerely, so Sun Yat-sen had to leave Japan. But Sun Yat-sen was unwilling before leaving; he made a final effort, letting Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren go to Anhui, hoping to pull Chen Ke into the Tongmenghui. Figures like Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren were forced to be lobbyists, also completely out of helplessness. If the People's Party joined the Tongmenghui, then Sun Yat-sen would have many means. Whether for external propaganda or even bargaining with the Japanese, there would be room. Learning that the People's Party cleanly refused cooperation, Sun Yat-sen was very disappointed. After a moment of silence, Sun Yat-sen said: "I have already ordered Hanmin to build the Tongmenghui headquarters in Nanyang (Southeast Asia). Let's go south temporarily. Since there is Beiyang in the north, the People's Party in Anhui, and the Guangfu Society in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, our Tongmenghui should still go to Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi)."

Because Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary party lacked armed forces under its own control, it naturally couldn't be like the People's Party, raising the banner first and then attacking cities and seizing land. Sun Yat-sen and the others' uprisings were a bit like doing business: first raising capital, buying firearms, spending money to smuggle them back, and also spending money to buy participants, from secret societies to New Armies and even Defense Battalions. Even the activity funds for uprising backbones, from transport and accommodation to money for food, had to be prepared in advance. Quite a few revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen were originally professional revolutionaries who had to rely on donations to support themselves; money was loose for a while and tight for a while. Raising a large sum of rebellion funds was really not easy. Whenever party members had property, most of it couldn't be kept. Sun Yat-sen's brother Sun Mei bankrupted his family to support his younger brother's revolution. And another revolutionary rich man, Zhang Jingjiang—it is said that the secret codes for his remittances to Sun Yat-sen were A, B, C, D, E representing 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, and 50,000 respectively. And Sun Yat-sen frequently sent him a C or E, leaving him struggling to cope. However, the biggest financial source for the revolutionary party was still Nanyang. After all, the revolutionary party soliciting donations could only rely on overseas Chinese, and the place with the most Chinese was Southeast Asia. Europe and America had to rank second. And among the people in the Tongmenghui, the one with the most overseas resources and strongest fundraising ability was still Sun Yat-sen. Only Sun Yat-sen had the most connections among overseas Chinese. What needs to be mentioned is that the donations back then were not entirely out of the revolutionary consciousness of overseas Chinese. Quite a few donations were actually a bit of betting investment by Chinese people in the revolution. When revolutionaries solicited donations, they often promised donors some official titles after the revolution succeeded. Of course, the vast majority of these official titles had no possibility of being honored after the revolution succeeded.

Whenever money was involved, disputes were inevitable. The outspoken Zhang Taiyan tore face and made a big scene with Sun Yat-sen over the *Min Bao* funds; behind this was actually the long-term dissatisfaction of some Tongmenghui members from the Southeast and Central regions with Sun Yat-sen. In their view, investing too much capital in Sun Yat-sen's hometown area of Liangguang was obviously due to regional bias. However, considering the source of funds, Sun Yat-sen probably could only choose this way. After all, Chinese overseas in Nanyang mostly came from Liangguang. If they could occupy a piece of land in Guangdong, it would also be convenient to strive for overseas aid. In Sun Yat-sen's eyes, a place like Wuhan, a battleground of four directions, was especially not to be considered. Therefore, after the Zhang Taiyan incident, the Tongmenghui was actually in a state of partial split. Some former Guangfu Society members acted on their own in the Southeast region. And former Hua Xing Hui members from the Central region also did their own thing. Of course, they couldn't count on Sun Yat-sen's fundraising relief.

After the Guangfu Society withdrew from the Tongmenghui, Sun Yat-sen had already made such a decision. Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren both knew it. Hearing Sun Yat-sen mention this matter again, the two looked at each other, as if making a great determination. Huang Xing said: "Mr. Sun, I don't plan to go to Nanyang. I want to go back to Hunan with Jiaoren and comrades from the Hua Xing Hui to have a look."

"Why?" Sun Yat-sen felt very surprised.

Song Jiaoren took over the conversation. "Since the People's Party can fight out Anhui relying on their own strength, we can also return to Hunan and start from the foundation; we may not necessarily be inferior to the People's Party. Moreover, the Manchu Qing's encirclement this time is menacing; if it fails, the world will be shaken immediately. Officials everywhere, to protect themselves, won't dare to persecute the revolutionary party so ruthlessly, and we can also have more room for maneuver."

Sun Yat-sen looked at Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren. The forces once gathered under the banner of the Tongmenghui really had a bit of a "national" flavor: Jiangsu-Zhejiang, Lianghu (Hunan/Hubei), Guangdong, plus overseas students from all over the country. Everyone engaged in the Tongmenghui in Japan, plus the Royalist Party Kang Youwei and others in Japan; it actually became a confluence area for various Chinese political forces.

But now, this situation had changed greatly. First, the Royalist Party Constitutionalists began to lean towards Beiyang's Yuan Shikai, while the Guangfu Society clearly raised the banner of cooperation with the People's Party. Now if Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren of the Hua Xing Hui in the Lianghu region withdrew again, what remained of the Tongmenghui would be the overseas Chinese and the Guangdong region.

Is this the end of the Tongmenghui? Sun Yat-sen thought.