Yan Fu's main mission in Shanghai was to resolve the issue of the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets, with a secondary mission to attempt contact with Jiangsu Governor Wang Youhong.

As the People's Party advanced into Zhejiang and Guangdong, the Beiyang Army forces engaging the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in both regions were completely annihilated. The Beiyang Army presented a scene of total collapse. Die-hard Beiyang troops fled to Fujian one after another, while the locally conscripted Beiyang troops attempted to hold the cities.

Yan Fu originally did not quite agree with He Rujie's plan to transport troops to Fujian by sea. He did not dare to completely trust the Beiyang Fleet's Sa Zhenbing. Transporting troops by sea was indeed a good method, but it had to be based on the ability to guarantee the safety of the sea routes. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's navy, let alone comparing to the Japanese or British navies, was in a position of being unilaterally beaten even compared to the current Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets.

A single ship could carry thousands of people. Dispatching army troops by sea without naval cover... if Sa Zhenbing turned hostile and refused to surrender, a few shells could wipe out these thousands of men. Since its establishment, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had fought across ten thousand li and fought so many battles. The total number of comrades sacrificed from beginning to end was less than fifty thousand. Losing five thousand men in a sea transport was a matter of minutes. With these five thousand men, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could even fight its way into Fujian from the Zhejiang-Fujian border. Yan Fu naturally refused to agree to a military plan based on trusting Sa Zhenbing.

As an insider, Sa Zhenbing's attitude became increasingly positive. Yan Fu could think of the reasons for the change in his old classmate and comrade-in-arms. Aside from the cities in Zhejiang already being occupied, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had already conquered Guangdong on September 1st after two days of bitter fighting. They captured a large number of Guangdong's prominent figures, including Zhang Renjun.

The only ports in all of China capable of accommodating the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets that were not under People's Party control were Shanghai and a few small ports in Fujian. Sa Zhenbing had originally spoken some vague and irrelevant words, but now he only discussed how the People's Party would implement the treatment for the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets.

Yan Fu also clearly expressed the People's Party's attitude: the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army must capture the Southeast Governor Feng Guozhang alive. Feng Guozhang must absolutely not be allowed to escape the country. For this reason, Sa Zhenbing specially sent He Rujie to negotiate this matter with Yan Fu.

He Rujie raised Sa Zhenbing's question, "Why can the People's Party let Sun Yat-sen go, but cannot let Feng Guozhang go? Is it because Sun Yat-sen is also a revolutionary?"

"It has nothing to do with Sun Yat-sen's background," Yan Fu replied decisively. "Sun Yat-sen's actions up to now have all been personal behaviors. Whether he defected to the Japanese or established his own government. In this era, Sun Yat-sen and his followers made their own choices while drifting with the tide. They may have made many promises and owed money to many people, but that is at most a civil dispute. Moreover, as far as we know, for the promises of official positions Sun Yat-sen made at the time, those people were willing to pay the money themselves. But Feng Guozhang is different. He participated in the April 12th operation and owes countless blood debts. Feng Guozhang did not kill people personally, but he instructed many people to massacre the masses. This is the reason why we can ignore Sun Yat-sen, but absolutely cannot let Feng Guozhang go."

Seeing Yan Fu's attitude was so firm, He Rujie thought for a moment and finally spoke of the thing Sa Zhenbing was truly worried about. "Mr. Yan, in this April 12th incident, the Fleet also did some things because of Governor Feng's orders. If someone wants to pursue this matter to the end, the Fleet cannot completely absolve itself of involvement. I wonder how Mr. Yan prepares to treat the officers and men of the Fleet?"

"Did you participate in massacre of the masses personally?" Yan Fu asked.

"Of course not, but we did participate in transporting troops," He Rujie replied seriously. Both the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets learned from the British, and the navy still followed the "white glove" gentlemanly style. Because of the vast difference in pay and weapon operation costs compared to the army, the navy and army had always been incompatible. The navy drifted everywhere on the sea, often staying on ships for months without disembarking, and had no time to participate in the army's messy affairs. The massacre commanded by Feng Guozhang had nothing to do with the Nanyang Fleet navy. Not to mention that during the April 12th massacre, the entire Beiyang Fleet was still in Tianjin.

However, neither Sa Zhenbing nor He Rujie were children. As the saying goes, 'if you want to condemn someone, you can always find a charge', let alone when the People's Party's attitude towards eliminating the Beiyang faction was so firm. At this time, because the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had no navy, they had to be polite to the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets. Once they took over the warships, the possibility of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army turning hostile was not non-existent. At that time, they could deal with these navy people with any excuse.

Yan Fu naturally understood the worries of the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets. Given the current development trend, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could finish off Feng Guozhang with just the army. The Fleet could not save Feng Guozhang's fate at all. Since neither Sa Zhenbing nor He Rujie planned to defect to foreigners, the Fleet could only consider the issue of their own safety after surrendering. So Yan Fu said patiently, "Rujie, I have repeatedly stated the People's Party's attitude. If you don't believe it, I have no other way. What I can guarantee is that as long as the Fleet did not participate in the personal massacre and only participated in troop transport operations, then we will not pursue the Fleet's responsibility for this. If obeying Feng Guozhang's military dispatch is considered a major crime of the Fleet, Rujie, don't you think doing so is ridiculous?"

He Rujie could certainly see Yan Fu's inner impatience. In fact, saying so much naggingly, He Rujie himself was annoyed. However, many questions were not raised by Sa Zhenbing alone. The high-level officers of the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets had already held a meeting and reached a consensus on the principle of defecting to the People's Party. However, everyone had their own worries. As the intermediary, He Rujie had to ask all the questions once. Hearing Yan Fu's many answers which could be said to be watertight, He Rujie also admired this sixty-something old man in his heart. Young people might not necessarily be able to bring out such energy to answer so many questions. He Rujie finally began to ask his own doubts, "Mr. Yan, I personally just want to ask one question. Why does the People's Party not choose to settle accounts with us after the autumn harvest?"

"Rujie, our People's Party's style is seeking truth from facts. Among the officers and men of the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets, there are those who joined the Fleet to serve the country, and there are those like me who came from poor families and could only go to the free Nanyang Naval Academy, finally ending up in this naval profession. Presumably, there is no one here who joined the Fleet because they wanted to be enemies with our People's Party, right?"

"Naturally, there is not," He Rujie replied quickly.

"Then why should our People's Party settle accounts with everyone for joining the Fleet and standing on the opposite side of the People's Party in the past? There is no such logic in this world," Yan Fu said.

He Rujie nodded repeatedly; these words were indeed upright and honorable. However, before He Rujie could relax for a moment, Yan Fu continued, "But, once the Fleet defects to the People's Party and becomes the Navy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, then the Navy is the People's Party's Navy and must obey the People's Party's regulations. The one-year transition period I mentioned earlier will absolutely not be broken. After one year, it is not just whether the officers and men of the Fleet are willing to continue working in the Navy, our People's Party will also choose the officers and men we think are suitable to continue working in the Navy. At that time, it is absolutely not that we want to settle accounts, but since it is the Navy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it must conform to the regulations of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. I also ask Rujie to understand this point and explain it clearly to the officers and men of the Fleet."

He Rujie's mood dropped to rock bottom with this sentence. The real idea of the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets was to be able to monopolize the Fleet like now and build the Fleet into a territory controlled by this faction. Of course, they could be loyal to Yan Fu, loyal to the People's Party, and loyal to Chen Ke. But apart from the obligation of loyalty, they did not want to give up the Fleet. Yan Fu's words clearly and plainly indicated that this idea was impossible to realize. Even knowing that Yan Fu's request was not excessive at all, He Rujie still felt quite heavy in his heart. After all, everyone had been in the Fleet for so many years, and it would be very difficult if they were forced to leave. But this thought was really hard to say out loud. Finally, He Rujie made a request, "Mr. Yan, can the transition period be extended to three years, or at least two and a half years?"

Yan Fu thought for a while and replied, "Two and a half years, it can't be longer."

He Rujie felt a burst of relief in his heart. A one-year transition period was really unacceptable, but with two and a half years, the situation would be greatly different. People who wanted to leave the Fleet would also have relatively sufficient time to plan a way out for themselves.

After reaching the agreement, He Rujie could not wait to leave Shanghai and return to Fujian to reply to everyone personally. He directly sent a telegram to Sa Zhenbing via radio, reporting the latest negotiation situation. Learning that Yan Fu would not impose unjust charges on the Fleet and that the transition period had been extended to two and a half years, Sa Zhenbing, after a day of discussion, conveyed the decision to agree to the uprising to Yan Fu. Of course, this was also conditional. Because of the lack of supplies and maintenance for the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets, most ships could not move at all. Once the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army fought to Fuzhou and Mawei, the Fleet would surrender.

The Central Committee was very happy with the intelligence conveyed by Yan Fu and immediately instructed Yan Fu to finalize the details of this matter immediately. The remaining Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets in China were very precious resources. If the People's Party could get them, it would be a leap forward development for the entire country's maritime system.

So Yan Fu not only received full authority but also a great deal of autonomy. After all, Yan Fu was a veteran of the navy, and his students were spread all over the Beiyang and Nanyang Fleets. Yan Fu knew the rules and various twists and turns inside best.

And Yan Fu quickly replied with an astonishing request. He requested to lead a small unit and a portion of silver dollars to go to Sa Zhenbing in Fujian personally. "Everything has risks. I am already old, and everything I have learned has been taught to the students of the Naval Academy. When Feng Guozhang is desperate, he will definitely command the navy to do some crazy acts. If my personal visit to Fujian can reduce some losses for the navy, then I am willing to take any risk."

Other comrades naturally did not dare to make a decision easily on such a request. Yan Fu was not only one of the veterans and founders of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army Navy but also Chen Ke's teacher. Although everyone thought Yan Fu's idea was correct, and saving one more warship at this time, even a small one, was a huge benefit. But in the face of risk, no one dared to guarantee anything. After all, no one was willing to say that the value of a warship was more important than Yan Fu's life.

Finally, Chen Ke made the final decision, "Agree to Comrade Yan Fu's request, but this time tell the Fujian side that we will dispatch two regiments of troops to arrive in Fujian by sea together, and ask them to be ready to receive them."

Sa Zhenbing considered for a day and gave a reply, "Agree to Mr. Yan and two regiments of troops coming to Fujian."

On September 9, 1916, a fleet composed of a freighter and two Fujian patrol boats set off from Shanghai for Fujian. The Fujian Fleet side indeed received this group of people to land in Fujian smoothly according to the original plan.

However, on September 13, Yan Fu personally sent a telegram to the Party Central Committee in Wuhan, "My unit arrested Feng Guozhang, who was trying to escape by boat from Fujian, on the 12th. The troops have occupied Fuzhou and the Fujian Governor's Office, and blocked Fuzhou Port with the assistance of the uprising navy. Requesting army comrades to advance rapidly into Fuzhou to help stabilize the local situation."