Whether it was Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin, or Qiu Jin, they all believed that Cai Yuanpei was in Hangzhou presiding over Zhejiang affairs. In reality, Cai Yuanpei was not in Hangzhou. He had disguised himself and left Hangzhou City in a very low-key manner, rushing towards Nanjing. The Nanjing side had also received news of Cai Yuanpei's contact in advance, and Wang Youhong arranged to meet Cai Yuanpei at Yuhuatai.

Cai Yuanpei was not very familiar with Wang Youhong. In recent years, they had met a few times because of the National Assembly and the mediation of inter-provincial disputes. Precisely because of these infrequent meetings, Cai Yuanpei felt that every time he saw Wang Youhong, he could clearly sense the changes in him. This was not about any difference in Wang Youhong's appearance. As a sixty-year-old man, Wang Youhong naturally couldn't have any physical development, not even the chance of cheek swelling caused by wisdom teeth. This change came entirely from the influence of spirit on demeanor and behavior.

When the two first met in 1909, Cai Yuanpei was passing through Jiangsu for Guangfu Society business, and Wang Youhong had received Cai Yuanpei and his party very politely. The impression Wang Youhong left on Cai Yuanpei was that of a military man. A sturdy body, a booming voice, an expression full of oppressiveness, a somewhat purplish-red face, and eyes that slightly bulged from constant glaring.

However, Wang Youhong had been changing. By 1912, when both Wang Youhong and Cai Yuanpei went to Beijing to attend the National Assembly meetings, Wang Youhong still had that oppressive appearance, but the whole person was much more steady. Overall, his temperament was more like Yuan Shikai.

And meeting Wang Youhong again this time, Cai Yuanpei found that the kind of oppressiveness that was once exposed like a signboard had almost disappeared. This wasn't because Wang Youhong had become frail or "collapsed into a pile of mud" after losing his spirit; that external toughness had been replaced by an inner fortitude. Cai Yuanpei was a great scholar; he had seen such changes in literati, from the sharp edge shown when they first achieved learning to the humility and calmness in their gestures after achieving great learning. But Wang Youhong was a military man, an official, yet he also had such a change. This couldn't help but make Cai Yuanpei feel somewhat surprised.

But now was not the time to discuss this. Cai Yuanpei decided to turn a blind eye to these minor details. Cai Yuanpei asked seriously, "War is approaching, I wonder what Governor Wang intends to do?"

Wang Youhong answered very calmly, "War is inevitable. I am always uneasy in my heart. I really don't want to fight, and I don't know how to win. I wonder what advice Speaker Cai has?"

Such a frank and sincere answer didn't sound like a soldier's answer at all, let alone words that a Governor holding great power could say. Cai Yuanpei knew that people who could view problems from such an unbiased angle were extremely difficult to deal with.

Since Wang Youhong was so frank, Cai Yuanpei's words naturally became much more polite, "Governor Wang, the People's Party will absolutely not let us off in the current situation. Chen Ke's political platform absolutely leaves us no way to live. If we cannot eliminate Chen Ke and the People's Party, we will definitely die without a burial place."

Cai Yuanpei could see that Wang Youhong did not feel any fear because of these words, but it was equally obvious that Wang Youhong was interested in Cai Yuanpei's words. But Wang Youhong neither rushed to interrupt nor echoed with feigned understanding. He remained polite and quietly acted as a listener.

Cai Yuanpei originally wanted to pull Wang Youhong completely to his side. Wang Youhong's cooperation made Cai Yuanpei feel much more relaxed. If Wang Youhong were to ask questions in a panic at this time, it would delay time. Cai Yuanpei spoke seriously, and Wang Youhong listened attentively. It took nearly half an hour for Cai Yuanpei to explain the reasons why the People's Party's new system was deviant and lawless to Wang Youhong.

Just when Cai Yuanpei was drinking water to rest, Wang Youhong asked in a calm tone, "Speaker Cai, listening to what you just said, it seems you don't care who can seize the world, but rather that the People's Party must be overthrown. I wonder if that is so?"

Cai Yuanpei was shocked in his heart. Everyone who knew him thought Cai Yuanpei was a staunch follower of Yuan Shikai. In fact, Cai Yuanpei's attitude was very clear, which was to resolutely eliminate the People's Party. To achieve this goal, Cai Yuanpei had no choice but to choose Beiyang. Until now, only Wang Youhong alone had noticed and directly stated Cai Yuanpei's true thoughts.

"Does Governor Wang have any objections to Beiyang?" Cai Yuanpei asked in surprise.

Wang Youhong smiled, "Speaker Cai, to be honest, what we in Jiangsu want is federal autonomy. Whether the People's Party defeats Beiyang, or Beiyang defeats the People's Party, this federal autonomy will come to an end. What difference does it make to us who wins or loses?"

Cai Yuanpei advised, "If the People's Party wins, Jiangsu will definitely be crushed by the People's Party. If Beiyang wins, given Jiangsu's current military strength, Beiyang may not necessarily dare to cross swords with Governor Wang."

"Haha," Wang Youhong laughed. It was a very sincere laugh, with neither mockery nor malice, purely a sincere laugh brought out by hearing something interesting. The laughter did not last too long. Wang Youhong put away his smile and said seriously, "Speaker Cai, if Beiyang can't even take down our Jiangsu, what makes them think they can defeat the People's Party? If Beiyang can't defeat the People's Party, what benefit is there for us in Jiangsu to join Beiyang's side? To be buried along with them?"

This question had clear facts and logic, and its starting point was pure unadulterated egoism. Cai Yuanpei wanted to criticize Wang Youhong for being shortsighted and unable to see the situation clearly. But for a great scholar of Cai Yuanpei's level, he really couldn't say such irrational words to a clear-headed person of Wang Youhong's noble status; that would simply be bringing disgrace upon himself.

"Then Governor Wang, what exactly do you think about the war?" Cai Yuanpei asked.

"I know it's impossible to stay out of it, so Jiangsu's plan is to defend the land and comfort the people. We will absolutely not intervene in however they fight outside, but whoever wants to fight into our Jiangsu, we will definitely resist to the end." Wang Youhong answered very crisply, not only completely confirming Jiangsu's future course of action but even turning around to persuade Cai Yuanpei, "Speaker Cai, people refer to Jiangnan as 'Jiang-Zhe'; Jiangsu and Zhejiang are one entity. The situation in the world is already like this. As a native of Zhejiang, why must you get involved in the struggle between two Henan people? If we Jiang-Zhe join hands, we can at least make the People's Party fearful. If the People's Party is greatly weakened after the great war, we can even strive for local autonomy. This is the way to seek welfare for the elders of Jiang-Zhe."

Cai Yuanpei was quite disdainful of Wang Youhong's shortsighted view. After thinking for a while, he finally threw out an important card, "If we have the assistance of British warships, and the coalition forces of Jiang-Zhe go up the river, what does Governor Wang think the People's Party will do?"

After these words were spoken, Cai Yuanpei saw Wang Youhong's face change completely for the first time. Not only did his expression become extremely severe, but his gaze was also like a sharp knife. "So Mr. Cai has colluded with the British?"

The word "colluded" was not a kind term. Cai Yuanpei couldn't figure out for a moment whether Wang Youhong couldn't find a suitable word in his excitement or if he genuinely had such deep hostility towards the British. And Wang Youhong's subsequent words cleared up the misunderstanding, "Since Mr. Cai has clung to the big tree of the British, I, Wang, really cannot climb that high. Mr. Cai has a boundless future. I wish Mr. Cai can eliminate the People's Party at an early date and save the people and the country from fire and water. I have other matters, so I cannot keep Mr. Cai company."

Being given such a clean and crisp eviction order by Wang Youhong, Cai Yuanpei was inexplicably surprised. However, Wang Youhong didn't give Cai Yuanpei a chance to explain at all. He stood up, apologized, and left leisurely. Now Cai Yuanpei felt Wang Youhong was even more unfathomable. As the Governor of Jiangsu, he was so xenophobic; this was simply unreasonable.

But an eviction was an eviction. It was pointless for Cai Yuanpei to stay in Nanjing shamelessly, so he had to take a boat back to Hangzhou.

The boat was a steam-powered ship built by the People's Party. Sitting in the cabin, Cai Yuanpei couldn't figure out why Wang Youhong was so hostile to the British intervention no matter how hard he thought. For Cai Yuanpei, although the British intervention was very abrupt, Cai Yuanpei didn't object to it much.

At the end of September 1914, the British made contact with Cai Yuanpei through a merchant in Shanghai. This merchant's identity was also quite peculiar; he was actually the cousin of Qi Huishen, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the People's Party. After the contact, the British expressed their willingness to support Cai Yuanpei in opposing the People's Party. If Cai Yuanpei could perform well in opposing the People's Party, the British could give Cai Yuanpei great support. For example, guaranteeing Zhejiang's post-war autonomous status; the British could even support Cai Yuanpei leading the Guangfu Society to obtain true ruling power over Zhejiang. That is to say, in addition to supporting Cai Yuanpei in continuing to control the Zhejiang Assembly and completely controlling the Zhejiang government, he could also control Zhejiang's military power.

The price was so high that Cai Yuanpei felt there must be a catch. Qi Huishen's cousin simply "revealed the bottom card": the British hoped that after Cai Yuanpei led the Guangfu Society to control Zhejiang, he could build Zhejiang into a free trade zone, or at least open major cities as free trade cities. Even with such lobbying, Cai Yuanpei was still very skeptical of the British sincerity. The British bullied Cai Yuanpei, this country bumpkin, by bringing up Japan's suppression of domestic socialists and Europe's crackdown on the Communist Party as examples. At least in terms of opposing the new system implemented by the People's Party, Cai Yuanpei was dead set. Seeing that the attitudes of Europe and Japan were so resolute, Cai Yuanpei felt there was a basis for cooperation. The two sides conducted several rounds of contact and negotiation on the direction of cooperation to exterminate the People's Party.

After Britain and Japan signed the "Far East War Memorandum" with Beiyang, Cai Yuanpei no longer worried that he would become a new "traitor" and thus firmed up his intention to cooperate. The British side not only provided a batch of weapons to Cai Yuanpei but also guaranteed that if the war started, the British fleet would also help the Guangfu Society led by Cai Yuanpei as well as the Beiyang Army to implement military strikes. Cai Yuanpei hadn't expected that one day he would also be able to become a leading figure commanding thousands of troops and horses and even modern warships. And Feng Guozhang, the Governor of Min-Zhe (Fujian-Zhejiang) for Beiyang, also expressed that he would stand firmly with Cai Yuanpei in the campaign to exterminate the Southern People's Party.

The only thing he hadn't expected was that Jiangsu Governor Wang Youhong would hold such a strong opposing attitude towards this matter. This made Cai Yuanpei feel extremely puzzled. Was Jiangsu Governor Wang Youhong really not afraid of the British?

Harboring this puzzlement, Cai Yuanpei returned to Hangzhou. The people who came to welcome him told him that Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin, and Qiu Jin had been waiting for Cai Yuanpei for a day. Cai Yuanpei sighed in his heart. No matter what attitude Jiangsu Governor Wang Youhong held, Zhejiang could not change its established strategy. Currently, Min-Zhe Governor Feng Guozhang had not completely finished war preparations. It wasn't just the conscription of troops, weapons and equipment, and the training of new recruits; the People's Party had infiltrated the south quite severely. Although many people in the Guangfu Society and Tongmenghui in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian had not joined the People's Party, there were quite a few who fully supported the People's Party's policies or supported a part of the People's Party's policies.

Chen Ke spoke of "People's Revolution," and one of his habitual tactics was to infiltrate other political forces. In 1905 in Shanghai, didn't Chen Ke also try to use the power of the Guangfu Society? Chen Ke's generals Hua Xiongmao, You Gou, and Wang Bin were all acquainted through the Guangfu Society. Wherever Chen Ke went, he spared no effort to poach from other forces. Shang Yuan, Pu Guanshui, and Qin Tongren of Beiyang ensured Chen Ke's base area in Fengtai County, Anhui. As for after the First Anqing Campaign, the Yue Wang Society and the Guangfu Society were played by Chen Ke in the palm of his hand. The Yue Wang Society claimed to have a hundred thousand members, yet it was played by Chen Ke to the point of ceasing to exist. In the final analysis, these people were either brainwashed by Chen Ke or had similarities with Chen Ke in their own political concepts, so they were bewitched and deceived.

The result of Cai Yuanpei's discussion with Feng Guozhang and the British side was that to resist the People's Party forces in Jiangnan, the first thing was to completely dig out the "mass base" of the People's Party. Anyone who responded to Chen Ke's political call or potential rebels cooperating with Chen Ke must be cleared out without a single one left. In constant research, Cai Yuanpei also found his own collaborators, that is, the vast number of gentry and landlords in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian.

After resting for a night, Cai Yuanpei convened a general meeting of the Guangfu Society. In recent years, the Guangfu Society had not only completely recovered its vitality but also won repeatedly in the elections of legislators at all levels in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, capturing more than half of the seats. Even gentry and landlords who were originally not members of the Guangfu Society chose to join the Guangfu Society one after another upon seeing its flourishing appearance. Apart from Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin, and Qiu Jin, the other attendees of the general meeting were all local gentry.

Tao Chengzhang at least still had the self-awareness of a revolutionary senior. He sat in a front row seat with a grand posture, and his momentum would definitely not be suppressed by anyone. Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin had been working at the grassroots level these years, their hearts full of all kinds of trivial matters, so where would they have the mind to put on airs? The two's simple cloth robes appeared quite shabby amidst a group of fur robes and silk robes, like country bumpkins.

"Everyone, I don't need to hide from you the matter of the upcoming war. Once the war is fought, there will be chaos, and the Zhejiang army has to go out to fight, so the security in the local areas is very disturbing. We don't need to cover up anything about the military discipline of the army, so after discussion, the Zhejiang Assembly has decided to organize local militias in various places. To pacify the locality in normal times, and to transport grain and fodder in critical times. This is also much better than conscripting the common people." Cai Yuanpei spoke of his arrangements as if nothing had happened.

He said it was discussed by the Zhejiang Assembly, but those sitting here were basically important legislators of the Zhejiang Assembly, so everyone knew what the assembly had discussed. Many people listened absent-mindedly, their eyes constantly sweeping over Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin. Qiu Jin listened seriously, her left hand unconsciously supporting her chin. That "luxurious" watch attracted the jealous gazes of many bored people. The bigwigs of the Guangfu Society basically knew the origin of this watch. Although they didn't know Chen Ke's identity as a time traveler, 21st-century knockoffs were much more brilliant than the technology of the early 20th century. Plus, Qiu Jin cherished the watch very much, so the electroplated parts were still shiny, and the artificial crystal decoration refracted various rays of light. These bigwigs all had their own watches, but even gold-plated or silver-cased pocket watches were far apart in appearance compared to Qiu Jin's watch, let alone the dense and highly transparent watch glass and the precise timekeeping of this watch.

Out of female instinct, Qiu Jin had already noticed these gazes. She put down the arm supporting her chin and simply hugged her arms together, but the watch was still exposed. Because of the change in angle, the originally reflected brilliance turned into a very soft and delicate light, which actually attracted even more gazes.

Cai Yuanpei finished introducing the recent decisions of the assembly and continued, "Wartime consumption is huge. If tax revenue cannot be ensured and soldiers lack pay and provisions, they will harass the locality. The matter of Zhejiang's tax revenue still has to rely on everyone to handle."

As soon as this signal was sent out, a legislator wearing a fox fur robe began to make difficulties, "Western Zhejiang has not paid taxes for these years. Since the situation is already like this, I think Western Zhejiang has to pay taxes too."

"Sure enough, here it comes!" Qiu Jin couldn't help but reveal a cold sneer, but this time, after all, there was the matter of supporting Tao Chengzhang, so Qiu Jin didn't say a word.

With someone taking the lead, naturally, many followed suit. Legislators of gentry origin didn't speak as straightforwardly as the common people. Anyway, they quoted classics or cried poverty, demanding that Western Zhejiang pay taxes just like other regions.

When this round of talk paused slightly, Xu Xilin spoke, "Speaking of which, the Governor is elected every four years. The Zhejiang Governor was elected in '11, and it is already '15. I wonder who our Guangfu Society is preparing to recommend for this Governor election? Everyone says we have to fight. To fight, we must choose a commander. As long as a Governor that everyone is satisfied with can be elected, it is not impossible for us in Western Zhejiang to pay taxes."

Some legislators hadn't expected Xu Xilin to counterattack in such a way, and they were all stunned. There was also a legislator who asked foolishly, "Then does Brother Xu have someone to recommend?"

"Of course I have someone to recommend!" Xu Xilin said loudly, standing up as he spoke, "I recommend Lord Tao to become the next Governor of Zhejiang."

As soon as this statement came out, the meeting venue buzzed with a commotion. Regarding the candidate for the future Zhejiang Governor, some legislators had thought about it, and some had not. But Xu Xilin recommending Tao Chengzhang caught quite a few people off guard. Although Tao Chengzhang's status in the Guangfu Society had declined in the past two years, Tao Chengzhang was still the Commander-in-Chief of the Guangfu Army and the commander-in-chief of the Guangfu Society's armed forces. Choosing Tao Chengzhang to serve as Zhejiang Governor during wartime was indeed a very persuasive choice.

The legislator who had jumped out earliest to demand Western Zhejiang pay taxes saw the situation change and hurriedly shouted, "This time we must discuss the matter of Western Zhejiang paying taxes first. The matter of the Governor can be discussed later."

Qiu Jin immediately stood up and said, "There's no need to discuss it later. Bosun has already said that if a Governor we are satisfied with is elected, Western Zhejiang can also pay taxes. Moreover, Mr. Cai just said that local militias are to be established in various places. Lord Tao has led troops and fought so many battles; I think it is best for him to command the militias."

Once these words were out, the small-scale private discussions that had already started continued to expand. Tao Chengzhang sat upright in his seat as if they were talking about someone else, but he felt that the current chaotic situation was actually quite good. Cai Yuanpei's seat was near Tao Chengzhang. Tao Chengzhang turned his head slightly and saw a smile on Cai Yuanpei's lips. This made Tao Chengzhang a little confused.