On March 26, 1915, Feng Guozhang, the Governor of Min-Zhe, received over a dozen distinguished guests at his residence in Fuzhou. One of the duties of the Min-Zhe Governor was to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Min-Zhe Military Region. Currently, the 3rd Army and the 30th Army were in Zhejiang, while the 6th Army and the 28th Army were in Fujian. In terms of organization, with four armies and sixteen divisions, there should theoretically be nearly 500,000 troops. Because the People's Party had completely cut off the connection between northern and southern China, the Min-Zhe region was the Beiyang clique's independent military region in the south. Feng Guozhang was the commander of Beiyang's southern forces. This fact also changed Feng Guozhang's title from Governor to Commander-in-Chief.

"Commander, what instructions does the President have this time?" asked Zhejiang Governor Zhu Rui respectfully, as Feng Guozhang's subordinate.

"The President has ordered us to completely exterminate the chaotic parties in the south and stabilize the situation. Once the reorganization in the north is complete, we will immediately join the war," Feng Guozhang replied.

"Commander, can we in Guangdong receive support in military armaments?" Although Liangguang Governor Zhang Renjun once held a position far higher than Feng Guozhang, he had to bow to reality.

"Elder Zhang, doesn't Guangdong have many local militias? Organize them, and that's over a hundred thousand men," Feng Guozhang laughed.

"Commander, you think too highly of us in Guangdong," Zhang Renjun smiled faintly. Although he was smiling, Zhang Renjun was extremely dissatisfied with Feng Guozhang's teasing. After Yuan Shikai launched the federal autonomy of provinces, Liangguang was the happiest. While the People's Party rapidly built their base areas, Liangguang also quickly established their own regional cooperation system. Theoretically, the position of Liangguang Governor shouldn't exist, but after discussion, the Liangguang government established a comprehensive cooperation system. Zhang Renjun, as the former Liangguang Governor, also successfully took charge of Liangguang's power.

However, this system suffered a heavy blow last year. The People's Party invaded Guangxi under the pretext of pursuing reactionary troops from Hunan, destroying the Liangguang joint system. Guangdong originally did not border the People's Party territory and had no feelings of hostility or identification with the People's Party, so it once hoped to stay completely out of any war. But when the People's Party seized Guangxi, they annihilated 20,000 Liangguang coalition troops and began large-scale land reform in Guangxi. Guangdong's attitude toward the People's Party changed from indifference to complete hostility. This time, Feng Guozhang convened a meeting of the southeastern provinces. The Guangdong representatives, changing their previous attitude of ignoring Beiyang, attended the meeting with Liangguang Governor Zhang Renjun leading the team, accompanied by Guangdong Governor Lu Rongting, Guangdong Speaker Chen Jiongming, and other high officials. Their purpose in attending the meeting was naturally to gain Beiyang's support to exterminate the People's Party. But as soon as they started talking, they were teased by Feng Guozhang.

Fortunately, Feng Guozhang didn't intend to make things difficult. Although he took a small verbal advantage, he immediately said seriously, "Elder Zhang, you have been in Liangguang for a long time. Don't you think we should pull together in the current situation?"

The meaning of these words was for Zhang Renjun to acknowledge Beiyang's leadership status. How could Zhang Renjun not know this? However, he did not answer immediately. The result of the prior discussion within the Guangdong delegation was not to fully defect to Beiyang, but to stand on Beiyang's side during the war, hoping to continue maintaining the state of federal autonomy after the war. Guangdong Speaker Chen Jiongming took over the conversation, "Commander Feng, I wonder what plans the President has for the post-war period?"

Feng Guozhang turned his head and laughed, "I know that all the provinces are currently worried about whether the President will seize their power after defeating the People's Party. The President has no intention of changing the federal autonomy of provinces. However, talking about whether we can defeat the People's Party now is a bit premature. Fighting a war is not writing an essay; the situation on the battlefield changes in an instant. If we cannot cooperate sincerely, victory or defeat is out of the question. The President gave me orders that the military command for this war must be unified. If Guangdong wants to receive support in military armaments, then you must obey orders during the war. Our Beiyang military discipline is extremely strict; this is no joking matter."

The Guangdong representatives looked at each other. Their greatest hope was to "fight independently," meaning that the military armaments and pay they should receive would not be less, but the military command would be independent of Beiyang's command system. But when they fought against the People's Party, Guangdong's army suffered almost total casualties. Although the People's Party had not yet completed military preparations to attack Guangdong, Guangdong also had no ability to organize an army to counterattack Guangxi. Feng Guozhang's requirement for unified military command made the Guangdong representatives very embarrassed.

Guangdong Governor Lu Rongting hurriedly changed the subject, "Commander, I wonder if the Jiangsu representatives will come?"

After the People's Party seized Guangxi, four provinces remained in the southeast: Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Now representatives from three provinces had arrived, and only the Jiangsu representative had not appeared. Lu Rongting asked this partly to see if the Jiangsu representative would come. If the Jiangsu representative didn't come, it could also hint to Feng Guozhang that Guangdong was still an important force Feng Guozhang could rely on.

This question effectively dampened Feng Guozhang's arrogance. His expression changed slightly before he answered, "Jiangsu's Wang Youhong can't see the situation clearly and is still dreaming his autumn dream of staying out of it. He doesn't think about it—the People's Party has already taken Northern Jiangsu; will they let Southern Jiangsu remain?"

Hearing this and thinking of Guangxi, which had been taken by the People's Party, the faces of the Guangdong representatives also became unsightly.

Zhejiang Governor Zhu Rui saw that the positions of everyone were difficult to reconcile, so he also hurriedly jumped in to smooth things over, "Elder Zhang, I'm not speaking ominous words before the battle. We all had our own positions before, but the current matter is already very clear. If we cannot unite sincerely and have even a bit of thought of staying out of it, if the North fights unfavorably against the People's Party and the People's Party frees up their hands to deal with us, can we resist them? Everyone is thinking about what will happen after the war, but if we can't even win this great war, how can we talk about post-war matters? You are all intelligent people; presumably, you should be able to think this through completely."

Lu Rongting sighed, "It's not that Guangdong is unwilling to send troops, but in the battle of Guangxi, our army suffered heavy casualties. The loss of military armaments and supplies was immense. Even if we have soldiers, we have no weapons. The People's Party's equipment is far superior to ours; how can we fight this battle?"

"Military armaments can be discussed, but this time I invited everyone here to discuss another matter. That is the extermination of chaotic parties within each province," Feng Guozhang said loudly. "The People's Party's invasion of provinces was never a hard fight; they have their own insiders in every province. With these insiders leading the way, plus the People's Party's so-called land reform to bewitch the ignorant common people, it was extremely easy for the People's Party to annex a province every time. Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin were once leaders in Zhejiang, didn't they also defect to the People's Party? If Zhejiang hadn't acted ruthlessly to exterminate them, what would Zhejiang look like now?"

Guangdong also roughly knew the news of Zhejiang exterminating the Western Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society. Hearing Feng Guozhang's words, the expressions of the Guangdong representatives were uncertain.

Zhejiang Governor Zhu Rui immediately said, "If you think the People's Party will avenge these people, you are greatly mistaken. We exterminated the chaotic party this time, and the People's Party didn't send troops at all. If the People's Party had sent troops, or if the People's Party was preparing to send troops, would I dare to come from Hangzhou to Fuzhou to meet with you all? The People's Party bullies the weak and fears the strong. If they face a battle where they have insiders and can win, they will brag excessively. If we make the first move, they will be honest."

After saying this, Zhu Rui boasted greatly about the "great achievements" of the Beiyang Army in slaughtering the Western Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society. In the process, he fiercely mocked how the People's Party did not save them and didn't even dare to approach the border.

When Zhu Rui finished speaking, Feng Guozhang said again, "Gentlemen, presumably the British have already contacted you. I'm afraid the French have also contacted you. Even if you don't trust us, you must trust the British and French, right?"

These final words finally moved the Guangdong representatives. Britain and France had indeed contacted the Guangdong government and indicated that if the Guangdong government could join the camp to encircle and suppress the People's Party, they would give the Guangdong government such and such support. This was also the reason why the Guangdong side was willing to attend this meeting.

"Are Britain and France willing to support us?" Zhang Renjun wanted to confirm again.

"We might as well ask the British representative to speak about this personally," Feng Guozhang laughed. "Please welcome Sir Humphrey."

The curtain was lifted, and under the astonished gaze of the Guangdong representatives, Sir Humphrey of the British Legation walked out from the inner hall in a leisurely manner.

The Fujian Conference lasted for three days. During the three days, Britain, Beiyang, and Guangdong reached a complete agreement. Britain could be responsible for supporting Guangdong with a batch of weapons and ammunition, which would be traded directly through British merchant houses in Guangdong. However, Guangdong must obey Beiyang's command during the war. Britain guaranteed that Guangdong could continue to maintain the existing Liangguang system after the war, and could even receive a certain share of benefits in Hunan, which was controlled by the People's Party.

To be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the British and discuss future national affairs almost equally was something the Guangdong government, which was used to being bullied by the British, had never thought of before. Plus, Britain promised that after exterminating the People's Party, they would establish an equal and friendly relationship with China. This greatly dispelled the Guangdong side's worries.

Of course, all these promises were not without conditions. Guangdong must, together with Fujian and Zhejiang, completely eliminate "radical elements" and eliminate the People's Party's "insiders in Guangdong." Only after completing this work would the British provide military equipment to Guangdong. The Guangdong side naturally agreed with this very much. Losing Guangxi and most of their army had already scared Guangdong out of their wits. They naturally chose to join with great joy.

After the agreement was reached, the British representative, Sir Humphrey, withdrew, leaving all problems to be solved by the Chinese themselves. This was also one of Britain's tactics. They were willing to expend great effort to facilitate the achievement of something, but in the specific execution of this matter, the British would let the participants do it themselves. Anyway, holding conditions that these people could not refuse, Britain could maximize their ability to stay out of it, and secondly, leave enough room for retreat for themselves.

The three southeastern provinces discussed again and roughly listed the targets to be struck. And it was determined that on April 12, 1915, the action to cleanse the chaotic parties would be launched simultaneously in the three provinces.