Did Cai Yuanpei truly believe that others should bring out their kindness to obey him?

Duan Qirui had spent a great deal of effort to arrive at this speculation. Although Duan Qirui was completely unsure whether Cai Yuanpei's mindset was genuine or feigned, he had already placed Cai Yuanpei in the "only to be used" category.

To believe that human nature is inherently good requires immense courage. Such thinking did not exist within Beiyang. Even Wang Shizhen, recognized as a "good man" within Beiyang, had high standards of personal morality. Yet, the number of people Wang Shizhen had personally ordered to be executed was at least several hundred. Yuan Shikai was called the "Butcher of the People," and of the commoners who died at Yuan Shikai's hands, Wang Shizhen could claim credit for forty percent.

In this world, a person is called a good man simply because such a person does not snatch things obtained by others to satisfy their own interests. Of course, the prerequisite is that this person possesses the ability to indisputably seize everything from others. This can already be called an absolute "good man." As for a "true good man" who gives support to others without seeking any return when they are in distress, Duan Qirui had really never seen one. If there was one, it was only Yuan Shikai alone.

In the life-and-death struggle between political groups, there is absolutely no room for "good men" to exist. The slightest tolerance towards the enemy is a crime against one's own group. From this perspective, the People's Party was already a "superb good political group." Although they were ruthless towards resisting enemies in battle, once the enemy laid down their arms or lost the ability to continue resisting, the People's Party still "treated captives preferentially."

A considerable portion of the old soldiers in the Third Town were unwilling to fight hard against the People's Party again precisely because they received medical treatment and kindness from the People's Party after being captured. These old soldiers didn't understand politics and had no understanding of the People's Party's political program, so naturally, they had no opposition. Then, between certain death in resistance and living by surrendering, they felt it was very necessary to survive. Having this kind of mindset before the battle, they couldn't possibly genuinely want to be hostile to the People's Party.

Duan Qirui knew the thoughts of his subordinates. If it weren't for his heartfelt opposition to the People's Party's political program of "laboring people as masters of the house," just based on the last defeat alone, Duan Qirui should have completely given up the intention of fighting to the end.

These were the realities of the world that Duan Qirui could understand and accept. But a person like Cai Yuanpei actually thought the world revolved around him, or at least he thought he understood the mode of the world's operation. Then, overestimating his own capabilities, he pushed his self-righteous "New Order" onto others. Those scholars who threw themselves into Beiyang, even if they wanted to push their own suggestions, at least understood that the one calling the shots was Beiyang, not themselves, so these people wouldn't misplace their position.

But Cai Yuanpei couldn't even set this most basic position right. He even tried to command Duan Qirui from the position of a false instructor. This couldn't help but make Duan Qirui harbor greater suspicion. Is this Cai Yuanpei truly stupid, or playing stupid?

Politics is about interests. Duan Qirui tolerated the existence of the Guangfu Society in southern Zhejiang only because the Guangfu Society didn't cause trouble. Duan Qirui also didn't have time to resolve the Guangfu Society's existence recently. Of course, it was also because Duan Qirui's biggest trouble now was how to rectify the situation in Zhejiang. These factors determined that the Guangfu Society could continue to exist.

In Duan Qirui's imagination, Cai Yuanpei should be helping Duan Qirui integrate the Zhejiang gentry at this time. Whether using Sun Yat-sen's *Three People's Principles* or Jiangsu's Separation of Three Powers, it didn't matter. What was important was solving Duan Qirui's troubles. Then, under the situation of safeguarding Beiyang's and his own interests, Duan Qirui would let the Guangfu Society have a share of the pie.

Cai Yuanpei's performance greatly disappointed Duan Qirui.

After listening to Cai Yuanpei introduce the political program designed by Sun Yat-sen, Duan Qirui saw that Cai Yuanpei had absolutely no intention of solving practical problems. He waved his hand, "Mr. Cai, I understand your theory, but the urgent task now is to unite the localities of Zhejiang. I wonder what suggestions Mr. Cai has?"

Cai Yuanpei wasn't stupid. Hearing such a clear question, he answered: "Lord Duan, if Lord Duan can agree to arrange the future political situation of Zhejiang with the *Three People's Principles* as the framework, I am willing to serve Lord Duan and convene the Zhejiang Assembly."

If Duan Qirui originally had plans to discuss with Cai Yuanpei, now Duan Qirui suddenly felt that if he gathered the army to finish off the Guangfu Society first, perhaps it would also be a good choice. At least it could kill the chicken to scare the monkey. What Duan Qirui needed now was the submission and cooperation of other political forces, not letting other political forces ride on his head.

Forcing down his mood, Duan Qirui said pleasantly: "Mr. Cai, how about this? This official will convene a gentry meeting. Since Mr. Cai intends to cooperate, why not send a representative to attend then?"

"What about the matter of the *Three People's Principles*?" Cai Yuanpei thought Duan Qirui's attitude had softened, and asked joyfully.

"The livelihood in Zhejiang localities is very bad right now. Whether it's the gentry or the common people, they have all encountered the problem of being unable to sell silkworm cocoons. Don't you think solving these things is more important?" Duan Qirui remained pleasant.

"This..." Cai Yuanpei was very disappointed.

Duan Qirui was determined to send Cai Yuanpei away, so his attitude became even gentler. "Mr. Cai, political matters can be discussed at length later. Now, livelihood matters are imminent. Do you think that with everyone unable to make a living, and bankrupt commoners selling their sons and daughters everywhere, talking about the *Three People's Principles* is useful? The common people need a mouthful of food right now. If you can bring out this food, I will talk about these things with you."

Cai Yuanpei originally didn't think the problems could be solved in the short term either. Since Duan Qirui's attitude had softened and he was prepared to convene a gentry meeting, Cai Yuanpei could only temporarily agree to Duan Qirui's statement and go back to wait for news.

Sending Cai Yuanpei away, Duan Qirui had to seriously consider local matters. He felt he truly wasn't the material to be a local official. "Should I write a letter to Brother Wang Shizhen, asking him to help transfer me back to Beijing?" Duan Qirui even generated such a thought. Anyway, the Third Town had recovered its strength; returning to serve in the Ministry of Army would be far more relaxing than staying in Zhejiang as Governor.

Just at this moment, a personal guard suddenly came in from outside. "Lord Duan, urgent military intelligence."

"What happened?" Duan Qirui immediately became tense. Could it be that Cai Yuanpei's trip was to confuse him, and the Guangfu Society had actually started moving north?

"Lord Duan, the Fujian New Army Tenth Town has rebelled. Viceroy of Min-Zhe Lord Songshou orders Your Excellency to send troops to suppress the rebellion." The personal guard continued to report.

Duan Qirui was originally a bit tense, but hearing this, he sneered and returned to his usual calmness. He had absolutely no respect for his nominal superior, Viceroy of Min-Zhe Songshou. He asked: "What else did Songshou say?"

"Lord Songshou wired that it is extremely urgent, asking Your Excellency to send troops immediately." The personal guard didn't dare be like Duan Qirui; he still maintained honorifics.

"Understood, you may withdraw." Duan Qirui replied.

Watching the personal guard leave, Duan Qirui didn't plan to prepare for military struggle immediately. He picked up a brush and drafted a telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking for Yuan Shikai's instructions.

In Duan Qirui's view, Songshou purely asked for it. Ever since Yuan Shikai convened the provisional meeting of the National Assembly and informed the whole country that Beiyang had grasped the central political power, the Han governors everywhere were fine. But the days for the Manchu governors were very hard. Han governors only had to deal with local gentry. This was just very ordinary dispute. But the Manchu governors felt the sky had collapsed. The court was no longer ruled by the Emperor, which meant the end for the Manchus had come.

Manchus had never integrated into China politically. They believed they were born superior to others, and they spared no effort when striking at Han resistance. Seeing that they were about to lose political power, the fear of the Manchu officials came from their marrow. Without the support of the court, it was no longer possible for Manchus to tyrannize. Then how would the Han people they once bullied treat them? The revolutionaries publicized *The Ten Days of Yangzhou* overwhelmingly, and slogans of slaughtering Manchus shouted to the heavens. These people didn't think they could be spared.

And Fujian had organized Manchu Banner troops. Fuzhou General Pushou simply directly organized a "Han-Killing Corps," clamoring to "kill all Han people in Fuzhou." Duan Qirui had long known that something would happen in Fujian and had reported this to Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai's reply was "watch the changes quietly." If Yuan Shikai directly seized ownership of Fujian, it would be too obvious. If Fujian had internal strife, entering Fujian with the reason of cleaning up the situation would be logical.

Duan Qirui originally thought Yuan Shikai was being too benevolent towards the Guangfu Society. But starting from the overall situation, with the Guangfu Society formally existing in Zhejiang, enemies would run to the Guangfu Society's banner, and instead, there wouldn't be meaning of beacon fires everywhere. Even with Duan Qirui's capability, having to suppress the Shanghai local government on one hand, fight wildly with the local snake Guangfu Society in Zhejiang, and guard against trouble in Fujian—Duan Qirui couldn't withstand it even with three heads and six arms.

Duan Qirui now admired Yuan Shikai's overall view prostrate on the ground. Finishing the telegram text, Duan Qirui seriously wrote down the date: September 17, 1910.

Viceroy of Min-Zhe Songshou didn't genuinely expect Duan Qirui to send troops to rescue him. In fact, he didn't expect his telegram to actually reach Duan Qirui's hands at all. Ordering people to send the telegram, Songshou listened to the gunfire outside, which was still far but intense enough, and ordered wine and dishes to be brought up. The Bannerman servant was greatly puzzled by Lord Songshou's leisurely behavior. Seeing Lord Songshou's pale face, the servant realized that Lord Songshou was preparing to eat his last meal.

The servant had followed Songshou for a long time. Although he had started sobbing quietly, the servant still ran to the kitchen and ordered the cook to quickly prepare a table of banquet for Lord Songshou.

Songshou took out a small bottle of wine from a hidden compartment; that was the poison wine he had prepared long ago. He also brought out a large jar of wine from a corner of the living room. This was one of the twelve jars of fine Shanxi Fenjiu given to him by others when Songshou assumed the post of Minister of War seven years ago. He trembled as he poured himself a cup. Without needing food to go with it, he trembled as he raised the cup and drank it in one gulp. The clear Fenjiu was very strong; if he drank such a cup directly on ordinary days, Songshou really couldn't handle it. But with this cup down now, the strong stimulation made Songshou suddenly feel relaxed all over. Perhaps because he hadn't eaten or slept much these past few days, with one cup of wine down, Songshou felt his body already had a tipsy feeling.

Pouring himself another cup, Songshou didn't continue drinking. He closed his eyes, and events of the past two years flooded into his mind.

"Empress Dowager! Your Majesty!" Songshou led the officials of Fujian in holding a massive mourning ceremony. Ten thousand people crying loudly facing the direction of Beijing was indeed magnificent. This was the event of September 7, 1908. Kneeling behind Songshou was Fujian General Pushou. Behind these civil and military high officials were a group of civil and military officials. Further back were ten thousand Bannermen.

After the group finished crying, Songshou required the common people to wear mourning for three days. Weddings and funerals were prohibited in Fujian within a month. This was originally standard practice. The world situation changed extremely fast. That night, Fujian General Pushou came to visit Songshou. "My Lord, the Bannermen population is numerous now. I am preparing to try opening some businesses, otherwise, everyone is afraid they won't be able to go on."

Although the Eight Banners system had "Iron Crops," this wasn't uniformly distributed. Only Bannermen selected as soldiers could have relatively high income. Others were only distributed rations and money to keep from starving. Fujian was a poor place, unable to compare with those Eight Banners in Beijing, far unable to compare with the Jingzhou and Xiangyang Eight Banners in Hubei, and the Bannermen in Nanjing, Jiangsu.

But Bannermen hadn't done any ordinary commoner's business for over two hundred years. Even if livelihood was difficult, they wouldn't starve to death. If they opened ordinary businesses, it would be a situation where it was easy to start but hard to stop. It wasn't that Songshou didn't want Bannermen to have more income, but how to increase income without triggering conflict with ancestral rules was a big problem. One must know, if Bannermen engaged in ordinary businesses, it would certainly affect the business of many Han people. If the Han gentry caused a disturbance, Songshou couldn't bear the charge of "ruining ancestral rules."

"This, I'm afraid, has to be discussed at length," Songshou said.

"My Lord, the sericulture business is very good now. Raw silk is not worried about sales at all. We won't do anything else, just teach the Eight Banners women to plant mulberries and raise silkworms first. Firstly, it won't trigger conflict. Secondly, it can also let everyone subsidize their household expenses. It shouldn't cause trouble." Pushou had his own ideas.

"So..., that is acceptable," Songshou replied. Another key point of the Banner system was "Manchu and Han do not mix." Manchus and Han lived separately, did not intermarry, and did not interact. As long as Bannermen were still in their own residential areas, there would be no handle to grab.

Having finished talking about this major event, Pushou refused to leave. Songshou was also a bit irritable in his heart because of the drastic changes in the court situation. He asked unhappily: "Is there anything else?"

"My Lord, how do you view Yuan Shikai?" Pushou was a Manchu General and had heartfelt distrust towards Beiyang.

"This is the court's affair. We just need to manage Fujian well," Songshou replied coldly.

"My Lord, Yuan Shikai has harbored evil intentions for a long time. Now that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are both gone, and he holds heavy troops outside, who in the court can suppress Yuan Shikai now?" Pushou was worried.

"Now the People's Party is the great enemy. Let's extinguish the People's Party first and then talk." Songshou didn't want to tell Pushou the plans in his heart. After saying this, Songshou lifted his tea bowl. "Lifting tea to send off guests" was a rule in Manchu officialdom. Pushou dared not disturb him further and could only rise to take his leave.

Songshou only felt increasingly irritable in his heart. The current situation was truly confusing. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor passing away on the same day was strange enough. And with a young lord just enthroned, they faced a situation where great rebel bandits and great powerful ministers existed simultaneously. Songshou felt indescribably uncomfortable. Although lifting tea to send off guests was a basic rule, Songshou sighed a long sigh and drank the already cold tea in one gulp.

Opening his eyes, Songshou's recollection ended here. He picked up the cup of wine on the table and drank it in one gulp. The spicy and clear Fenjiu became much more refreshing upon entering his mouth at this time. Songshou had no regrets anymore. Even if he had already detected the crisis of the situation at that time, what could he have done? The court was in chaos; Songshou couldn't possibly change the situation relying on the New Army Tenth Town.

Now the New Army Tenth Town was storming Fuzhou. With the current situation, it wouldn't take long for them to rush into the Viceroy of Min-Zhe's office. That would be the time of Songshou's death. Songshou glanced at the small bottle containing poison wine on the table. At that time, he would have to rely on this thing to maintain Songshou's own dignity.

"If only I could have made up my mind to go for the King's Rescue back then!" Songshou thought.

In November 1908, Pushou and a group of Fujian civil and military officials were in the Viceroy of Min-Zhe's office. Prince Chun Zaifeng issued a King's Rescue order to the world. Mounted bandits were raging in Zhili, Hebei, and Shandong. At that time, the Banner First Town of Beiyang, and the "suspected army" organized by the Beijing Bannermen, had already been clean and neatly annihilated. And Beijing actually had to rely on police to defend the city.

Of course, the telegram didn't say it this clearly. It only required Banner troops everywhere to go for King's Rescue.

"What exactly does Prince Chun mean by this?" New Army Tenth Town Commander Sun Daoren asked.

Fujian General Pushou replied coldly: "What meaning can it have? Prince Chun feels the New Army is unreliable."

Although Sun Daoren was a leading figure in the New Army, Manchus had always had a "noble" status. Although the army and equipment he held were better, his status still couldn't compare with Pushou. Being snapped at by Pushou like this, although Sun Daoren was furious, he couldn't say anything.

"General Pushou, are you preparing to lead troops to Beijing for King's Rescue?" This was the greatest counterattack Sun Daoren could make.

"This requires Lord Songshou's decision; no need to trouble Commander Sun," Pushou sneered.

Seeing the two highest commanders of the New Army and Banner Army opposing each other like this, Songshou also felt it was too inappropriate. He scolded, "The court is already in such crisis, what are you arguing about?"

Although he said this, Songshou knew he simply couldn't send out troops for King's Rescue. This time Prince Chun Zaifeng requested King's Rescue; not to mention Fujian was too far from Beijing. Going by water required big ships. But arranging ships took time. More importantly, the Bannermen indeed had no army capable of fighting. Even elites like the New Army First Town couldn't escape the fate of total annihilation. What could a temporarily patchworked Banner army do if they went? Moreover, quite a lot of intelligence had already started to point out that in the New Army Tenth Town, more and more people were inclined towards the revolutionary party.

Now if the Banner army was sent away, who would be responsible for suppressing the New Army?

If he could send the New Army Tenth Town to Beijing, that would be a not bad choice. But Songshou knew that if he proposed this suggestion, it would meet with great opposition.

But Songshou wanted to try. "Commander Sun, can the New Army Tenth Town dispatch troops?"

"This..., My Lord, for the New Army Tenth Town to move, military weapons, equipment, and supplies must be prepared for at least two months." As expected, Sun Daoren immediately refused.

"The New Army going is probably useless too." Pushou also held an opposing opinion without a doubt. Even if his own Banner Army had no combat power, Fujian General Pushou didn't want the New Army to show the slightest limelight.

The gunshots were closer. The crying and shouting, especially women's crying and shouting, pulled Songshou's train of thought back to reality. If he could have sent the New Army Tenth Town to King's Rescue without hesitation at that time, it would have been good. Songshou thought. Even killing with a borrowed knife would be better than now.

Ten days ago, it was New Army Tenth Town Commander Sun Daoren who demanded Songshou hand over all power in Fujian Province. Songshou refused, and then the battle unfolded. Songshou didn't regret not acting promptly at that time. At the end of 1908, Songshou simply couldn't have imagined the situation would change at such a rapid speed.