122 Collapse (10)

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As intelligence controls on the various legations in Beijing were gradually relaxed, news of Japan's increasingly hardline stance toward China also reached the Allied legations in Beijing. The atmosphere inside the British Legation regarding this new development was quite subtle.

"Has the People's Party already considered this matter, which is why they haven't discussed the British government's recognition of the People's Party government at all?" Sir Humphrey spoke rather directly as he asked.

"Non-recognition isn't a bad thing right now." The British Minister himself actually had the courage to break a cracked pot. After all, the situation hadn't reached the worst possible point. In terms of the results of the talks with the People's Party, the current situation was very likely to be that the People's Party would take over political power in China and join the Allied Powers. The only problem lay in the fact that the British government would likely be unable to recover all its investments in the Beiyang regime, and would not receive military support from the People's Party. Medical corps and nurses belonged to technical branches. The People's Party had released a large number of Beiyang captives, and Britain had privately investigated these captives. According to Britain's findings, the medical standards of the People's Party's military doctors could absolutely not be called poor. Compared to Britain's top surgeons, there was a gap, but compared to the average British level, they were above the passing line. Not to mention that the People's Party Chairman Chen Ke was also a chemist and pharmacologist.

That a change in China's regime would not result in it becoming a member of the Central Powers at least covered the British Minister's bottom line. What the British Legation had to do now was just to bargain as much as possible to reduce losses. At this moment, Japan waging war against the People's Party appeared to be quite a problem. According to the Allied agreement, if Japan declared war on the People's Party, Britain also had an obligation to declare war on the People's Party. However, in such times, Britain still had a loophole to exploit. The People's Party was not a legal Chinese government recognized by the world's nations. The Allied Powers were a military alliance against the Central Powers; this alliance had no obligation to declare war on a non-governmental organization.

"What if Japan is defeated? What should we do? At that time, Japan will certainly ask us to support Japan," Sir Humphrey was somewhat troubled.

"If it really comes to that step, we will just support Japan's demands," the British Minister replied decisively. "It is already meaningless for us to continue mediating this matter. Moreover, even if we mediated, Japan would absolutely not let the matter rest. So if we support Japan cleanly and efficiently when the time comes, it will actually save us a lot of trouble. Besides, it is that bunch back home who will ultimately decide this matter."

Sir Humphrey had originally wanted to persuade him further, but after hearing the Minister's words, he also cleanly gave up his own ideas.

Japan's attitude toward the People's Party not only gave various countries and forces their own ideas, but a small group of people in Japan also had fierce debates about it. The Tongmenghui's headquarters had now returned to Tokyo, Japan. Unlike before, the current Tokyo didn't have many Chinese students; there weren't even many Chinese people. Ten years ago, in 1905 when Sun Yat-sen arrived in Tokyo, welcoming crowds filled the streets. International students cheered, striving to see with their own eyes what kind of person the famous revolutionary, the Sun Wen wanted and struck by the Qing court, actually was.

Now, after a series of revolutions, a "revolutionary senior" like Sun Wen had nothing distinctive about him at all. Not only that, the Guangfu Society's party purge launched by Cai Yuanpei had swept from the Guangfu Society to the populace, from Zhejiang to Fujian and Guangdong. The Tongmenghui had suffered heavy losses in the purge. Southern Tongmenghui members who fled to Sun Yat-sen cried as they said: "Not one in ten survives! Our Tongmenghui members in Guangdong don't even have one in ten surviving."

Of course, Sun Yat-sen's current status was also different from before. With Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen had at least become a Member of Parliament and even the Vice Minister of Railways. Although the money Yuan Shikai gave Sun Yat-sen to survey railway routes had all been used by Sun Yat-sen on Tongmenghui party affairs, the Tongmenghui now had fewer than a hundred members in Japan, so the money in Sun Yat-sen's hands could still hold out.

Wang Jingwei had once followed White Wolf of Henan to stage an uprising. After the People's Party occupied Henan, they immediately implemented land reform, and most of White Wolf's subordinates ran home to share land and farm. In the People's Party's subsequent bandit suppression campaign, Wang Jingwei and White Wolf had to flee to Shaanxi. White Wolf was a famous figure in the underworld and soon became a figure in the Shaanxi Gelaohui (Society of Elder Brothers). Wang Jingwei didn't understand how to deal with these greenwood figures. With no other choice, he ran back to Guangdong. Then he went to Japan to temporarily avoid disaster. It was only when Sun Yat-sen had to run to Japan to "inspect" because he had embezzled railway survey funds that the two met again.

And the change in Japan's strategy toward China allowed Wang Jingwei to see a tremendous opportunity. "President Sun, Japanese friends mentioned something. Now the Beiyang civilian government has already been captured by the People's Party. Currently, among figures of ministerial rank, there is only you alone. Therefore, some Japanese friends believe it is necessary for you to rebuild the Republican government. You are now the highest-ranking government official of the Republic still in existence; only you have the qualification to rebuild the government of the Republic of China."

Hu Hanmin and the others around were all staunch supporters of Sun Yat-sen. Hearing Wang Jingwei's words, their eyes lit up, even though this proposal sounded ridiculous no matter how one listened to it. As a revolutionary pioneer against the Qing, Sun Yat-sen had always been in a hostile stance with Yuan Shikai. Later, Yuan Shikai had consistently made things difficult for Sun Yat-sen. Even when Yuan Shikai finally showed leniency to Sun Yat-sen, letting him be an MP and Vice Minister of Railways, that wasn't because Yuan Shikai had any goodwill toward Sun Yat-sen personally. That action was firstly a "buying horse bones with a thousand gold" gesture to serve as a model to win over other parties. Secondly, for Sun Yat-sen personally, it was even a kind of contemptuous charity.

But at this time, because of Sun Yat-sen's official position as a ministerial-level cadre in the Beiyang government, he had instead become the "most legitimate" successor to the Beiyang government. The ridiculousness within this really forced one to use the phrase "fortune makes fools of people" to describe it.

Sun Yat-sen did not utter a sound. Everyone around could see that Sun Yat-sen was indeed considering this matter very seriously. Those sitting here were the true diehards of the Tongmenghui—Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin, Chen Qimei, Wang Boling, Dai Jitao—all were Sun Yat-sen's staunch supporters. However, these people's support for Sun Yat-sen was also in the hope that Sun Yat-sen could continue to rise politically. Now this news brought back by Wang Jingwei excited them endlessly. One must know, Sun Yat-sen had always hoped to receive clear support from the Japanese government, but the Japanese government had never given Sun Yat-sen clear support. Now it seemed Japan's attitude was about to make a 180-degree turn.

"Duke Zhongshan, since Japan has this intention, I feel we might as well discuss this matter with Japan," Hu Hanmin advised. "Many opportunities are fleeting. Yuan Shikai did not rely on the Hundred Days' Reform to come to power. When Chen Ke came to power, however, he relied on Xu Xilin's recommendation. Such opportunities looked not very good at the time, but without the opportunity, it is absolutely impossible. In Shanghai, Chen Ke first studied under Yan Fu, and when he arrived in Beijing, he had Yuan Shikai act as matchmaker. Among the people under Chen Ke, more than half were recruited when he was in Shanghai and Beijing. But this does not equate to Chen Ke not overthrowing the Beiyang government now."

As soon as these words came out, everyone else nodded repeatedly. Although everyone knew Sun Yat-sen and the Beiyang government were not on the same path at all, this was not the time to act on impulse.

Seeing Sun Yat-sen still silent, everyone was anxious in their hearts. Chen Qimei stepped forward wanting to speak again, but was interrupted by Sun Yat-sen waving his hand. "The Japanese never count their words. In the past, it was always us begging them. Now since Japan has found us first, we might as well wait for them to explain things clearly."

Only then did everyone understand Sun Yat-sen's meaning. Sun Yat-sen hadn't considered whether he was willing to cooperate with Japan at all; his thoughts had long since skipped past this juncture. What Sun Yat-sen was considering now was how to ensure the success of this cooperation.

Chen Qimei immediately changed the topic. "Everyone, let me say something. Since we have long known Japan's moral character, we must absolutely not contact Japan privately this time. Yuan Shikai has always been known for strictness, and the People's Party's Chen Ke simply shouts about iron discipline. In this matter, we absolutely must not repeat past mistakes. If everyone goes to contact the Japanese, it will only make the Japanese look down on us."

These words were really reasonable, and the circle of people around Sun Yat-sen all nodded in agreement. Wang Jingwei nodded while glancing at Chen Qimei with a look containing malice. This time it was the Japanese who found Wang Jingwei first to talk about this. Everyone knew Chen Qimei was Sun Yat-sen's true confidant. Chen Qimei spoke nicely, but when it came to actually handling this matter, Chen Qimei wouldn't let others intervene; he himself would definitely intervene, and might even squeeze Wang Jingwei out. When it came time to discuss merits, Chen Qimei could naturally claim to be the greatest contributor to facilitating this matter.

Thinking of this, Wang Jingwei had already made up his mind that no matter what, he couldn't let Chen Qimei snatch this credit. Wang Jingwei also regretted a little; if only he hadn't been so excited that he childishly spoke of this matter in public. He should have communicated well with the Japanese first, and waited until he completely controlled the initiative in this matter. Then, when things reached the final step, Wang Jingwei would tell everyone the news that the Japanese wanted to negotiate directly with Sun Yat-sen. Even if Chen Qimei wanted to snatch the credit then, Wang Jingwei would already hold all the chips. Whatever Chen Qimei said would be useless.

Chen Qimei didn't take immediate action to snatch credit. He first requested that the people at the meeting today absolutely not spread this news, and then requested that everyone take no action, just waiting for Japan's next move. Leaving aside what the participating Tongmenghui members thought in their hearts, verbally they all agreed.

Wang Jingwei's heart was filled with mixed feelings, and he didn't fall asleep until the latter half of the night. When he joined the revolution, he only thought of overthrowing the Manchus. When the Manchus fell in 1911, Wang Jingwei didn't feel any happiness. The Tongmenghui, as the initiator of the revolution, hadn't enjoyed the fruits of the revolution. There was Yuan Shikai in the north and the People's Party in the central region. Even the Guangfu Society, which had defected from the Tongmenghui, had a great say in Zhejiang. As the revolution's initiator, Sun Yat-sen and his followers had ended up in a situation where they couldn't return home, actually becoming completely marginalized.

However, no one could have imagined that Heaven would suddenly send such a massive opportunity to the Tongmenghui. If a legal Chinese government with Sun Yat-sen as Grand President could be established with Japanese support, this government would definitely be recognized by various countries. A wave of calls for sending troops to intervene in Chinese affairs had already formed within Japan, from top to bottom. Presumably, other countries would also support Japan, which was also a great power. Beiyang had now collapsed; as long as the People's Party could be destroyed, then the Tongmenghui could become the rulers of China. Such a turn of events was a miracle one wouldn't have dared to think of before. But this miracle had actually happened.

Tossing and turning, thinking about this future, Wang Jingwei only groggily fell asleep when the sky was about to brighten. As a result, just as he was sleeping soundly, he was shoved vigorously by someone. Calls came to his ears, "Mr. Wang! Mr. Wang!"

Wang Jingwei struggled to open his eyes, and what was before him was a face with ultra-short hair. Identifying him carefully, it was Chen Qimei's little brother, Jiang Zhiqing.

Jiang Zhiqing was Chen Qimei's capable right-hand man. On the Tongmenghui's list of enemies, or rather Chen Qimei's list, the number one enemy was neither Yuan Shikai nor Chen Ke. It was Tao Chengzhang, who had taken the lead in defecting from the Tongmenghui. The grievances between Tao Chengzhang and the Tongmenghui began from the time of fighting for the Tongmenghui's leadership rights. Yuan Shikai and Chen Ke each relied on themselves to develop and had no entanglements with the Tongmenghui. Even when the People's Party took Chen Tianhua away, this didn't make Sun Yat-sen's followers dissatisfied. Chen Tianhua had great influence among students in Japan; his leaving the Tongmenghui to defect to the People's Party only eliminated a powerful competitor for Sun Yat-sen.

What made Sun Yat-sen's supporters feel most hostile was this Tao Chengzhang, who consistently fought with Sun Yat-sen for Tongmenghui leadership and later simply led the Guangfu Society to defect from the alliance. Moreover, Tao Chengzhang and the Yuewang Society under the Tongmenghui's banner cooperated with the People's Party at the same time. After the Yuewang Society was wiped out, the Guangfu Society actually flourished. This deepened the hostility of Sun Yat-sen's supporters.

After Jiang Zhiqing defected to Chen Qimei, because he was steadfast and willing to work, plus loyal and devoted, he was ordered to assassinate Tao Chengzhang. The Tongmenghui also had some members from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Chen Qimei was a big boss of the Shanghai Green Gang; if he could get rid of guys like Tao Chengzhang who had great hostility toward the Tongmenghui, the Guangfu Society's President Cai Yuanpei might cooperate with the Tongmenghui again. Jiang Zhiqing completed the task very well. But man's calculation is not as good as Heaven's calculation; no one expected the internal purge within the Tongmenghui to clean out the Tongmenghui members in Guangdong so thoroughly.

Wang Jingwei's status within the Tongmenghui was unknown how much higher than Jiang Zhiqing's. As he got up, he asked coldly, "What is the matter?"

Jiang Zhiqing wasn't angry at all. He replied calmly, "Mr. Sun invites you to a meeting."

"Understood," Wang Jingwei responded, and then said to Jiang Zhiqing unceremoniously, "You get out first!"

While changing clothes, Wang Jingwei was very dissatisfied in his heart. Yesterday Chen Qimei began trying to dominate the situation, and now he was anxious to hold a meeting. What exactly did he want to do?

However, upon arriving at the conference room, Wang Jingwei found things were not right. There were few people in the room; the only one already waiting inside was Hu Hanmin. Wang Boling, Dai Jitao and others were not there at all. Sun Yat-sen sat in the main seat with a gloomy face, while Hu Hanmin looked both uneasy and angry.

Just as he sat down, hurried footsteps were heard, and Chen Qimei strode into the room. "Mr. Sun, Wang Boling and Dai Jitao don't know where they've gone. And the people who were with them are also missing. I'm afraid they went to carry out activities on their own."

Hearing this, Wang Jingwei had a feeling of sudden realization. These people were not high officials of the Beiyang government, so naturally they couldn't replace Sun Yat-sen's status. However, if these people could participate in gathering intelligence and contacting the Japanese now, they might gain the appreciation and support of the Japanese. And as long as the Japanese said a word, then in some future "key positions" of the "Chinese Republic," this group of people could secure their own places.

Although up to now, Wang Jingwei believed Chen Qimei still wanted to snatch credit and seize the position second only to Sun Yat-sen, Chen Qimei's statement last night was indeed very reasonable.

PS: Next chapter released tomorrow morning at 8.