Chapter 44 April 3rd and May 4th, the turmoil broke out, and the situation in China was turbulent

Xu Deyan, a prominent figure in the May 4th Movement and a Peking University student, once recalled that in the six months after the end of the First World War, "the students were so excited that they were crazy, and all kinds of celebrities also gave speeches diligently." The slogan "righteousness defeats power" "Agitated the heartstrings of every young man, thinking that China has turned around so cheaply." However, things in the world are often like this, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.After the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, as various bad news continued to come, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people returned from the brilliant spring to the bleak winter, and all kinds of hopes were like colorful soap bubbles blown by the wind. It fell on the hard ground and broke cruelly.

On May 2, Lin Changmin, chief of affairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Presidential Office, published an article in Beijing's "Morning News", officially announcing the failure of China's diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference.When the news came out, the students in Beijing were shocked, the people of Beijing were shocked, and the people of the whole of China were shocked! On the afternoon of the 3rd, the People's Diplomatic Association (including Xiong Xiling, Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei and other celebrities) held a meeting composed of celebrities in Beijing's political circles. "The day of the ultimatum to be negotiated) held a National Assembly in Central Park to protest this peace meeting of the powers.

Compared with the gentlemen of the National Diplomatic Association, the students in Beijing no longer have this patience. How can they wait until May 7th?In the afternoon of the same day, student representatives from various schools in Beijing decided to hold an all-student meeting at 7:00 p.m. Students from thirteen schools including University and Chaoyang University. In the evening, Peking University students and student representatives from other schools gathered in the auditorium of the Peking University Law School, and soon the auditorium was packed to the brim, and many people gathered outside the auditorium.At the meeting that night, the students who spoke were Ding Zhaoqing, Xie Shaomin, Zhang Guotao, Xu Deyan, and Xia Xiufeng, a representative of another school. Xie Shaomin was even more furious. He bit his middle finger on the spot, tore his clothes, and wrote "return me Qingdao" four characters!

At this moment, the entire auditorium was boiling, and the applause, cheers and excited tears of the young students complemented each other. Some students hugged each other and wept, while others clenched their fists tightly and sighed to the sky. There was a tragic and desolate atmosphere. At this time, a student jumped onto the rostrum and shouted: "What's the use of crying! We have to act! Students, let's collect donations now and go to Tiananmen Square tomorrow!" After listening to his words, the students in the venue donated their silver dollars, copper coins, watches, rings and even hats.Afterwards, the students prepared separately, some made the parade route, some made slogans and banners, and some went out to contact other schools... This night, many young friends were sleepless all night.

At around 1pm on May 4, more than 3,000 students from more than a dozen schools in Beijing gathered in Tiananmen Square from all directions. They erected a huge couplet under the two Chinese watches in front of the Jinshui Bridge: "Traitoring the country and seeking glory, I knew that there was no word on the stele of Cao Cong's legacy; I was attracted to others, and I didn't expect Zhang Dun's remnants to die!" On the other side of the couplet, "Give me back Qingdao" written in blood by Xie Shaomin, a Peking University student who bit his finger the night before, is also hanging there, shaking with the anger of the students.

Most of the students who came to Tiananmen held slogans, which read: "Abolish the Twenty-one Articles", "Strive to the death", "Don't be patriotic for five minutes", "It is better to smash the jade than to be whole", "Punish the traitors Cao Rulin, Zhang Zong Xiang, Lu Zongyu", "The head can be broken, but Qingdao must not be lost", and so on.During the march, the students continued to shout these slogans and distributed leaflets to the people along the street. The leaflets are the manifesto of the movement, one in archaic style and the other in vernacular style. All patriots must read:

Some students felt that this manifesto was too literary, so they drafted a more popular one in vernacular: This manifesto was simple and easy to understand. It was distributed and circulated for a while.As the students gathered, more and more people followed. They were also moved by the students' patriotic enthusiasm and chanted slogans together. After a short speech, the students marched to the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane, intending to petition the ministers of various countries and seek sympathy for international justice.On the way, Yuan Xitao, the deputy minister of education of the Republic of China government, Li Changtai, the commander of the Beijing infantry, and Wu Bingxiang, the chief of the police, arrived after hearing the news, but they could not stop the students from advancing.After arriving at Dongjiaomin Lane, although the embassies of the United States, Britain, and France welcomed the students, the patrol room resolutely refused to let them go. As a result, thousands of young students were exposed to the sun for more than two hours in the scorching sun in May. pass.

After the petition in the embassy area was blocked, the students were filled with righteous indignation and extreme indignation, and then decided to divert to the home of the traitor Cao Rulin to demonstrate.Although Fu Sinian, the overall leader of the parade, was worried that there would be accidents on the way, he could not stop the torrent of student movements at the moment. At noon on this day, Cao Rulin and Zhang Zongxiang were going to the Presidential Palace for a banquet at the invitation of President Xu Shichang. After the news of the student parade came, someone advised them not to return to the residence for the time being, but Cao and Zhang disagreed.At about three o'clock, Cao Rulin and Zhang Zongxiang returned to Cao's house at the west entrance of Zhaojialou Hutong.

Not long after Cao and Zhang returned to Cao’s House, Ding Shiyuan, Director of Aviation of the Ministry of Army, and a Japanese reporter named Nakae Choukichi came to visit. There are hundreds of policemen protecting them, so they don't take it seriously.They felt that the students would not make any tricks, and even if there were violent acts, they could be stopped and dispersed by the police. At about four o'clock, a large number of students came to the gate of Cao's house in Zhaojialou, and the situation changed immediately.Although the police were on the alert, thousands of students chanted "Down with traitors" like an overwhelming sound, which was enough to make the people in the house tremble with fear.

Soon, some students shouted: "Cao Rulin, the traitor, come out to see me!" and knocked on the gate of Cao's house violently, and the situation began to get out of control.Seeing that the situation was not good, the police immediately stepped forward to dissuade the students who knocked on the door, and the two sides clashed.In the confusion, some students walked around the house, looking for other entrances.Suddenly, there was a "wow", and the gate of Cao's house was opened, and the students outside broke through the police's barrier at once. They rushed in, looking for the traitor Cao Rulin everywhere.

The first thing the students discovered was Cao Rulin's father and concubine, but instead of doing anything to them, they let them go and continued to look for Cao Rulin.However, the students searched for a long time, but did not find any trace of Cao Rulin. Where did these people go? Many people thought that Cao Rulin escaped when the gate was broken, but this is not the case.According to Cao Rulin's recollection, after the students broke into the gate, he hurriedly hid in a box room between his wife and daughter's bedrooms, but the students did not search carefully, and they just smashed the doors and windows after entering the room glass, and then threw the china in the house (since it’s a traitor, what’s the harm in smashing it?), and after a while of commotion, they went out again. At around 4:30, Cao’s house suddenly caught fire, and Zhang Zongxiang, who was hiding in the boiler room, rushed out. Because Zhang Zongxiang was wearing a uniform, he was recognized immediately, but he was blocked by the back door and beaten by students (students thought he was Cao Rulin), a student hit Zhang Zongxiang on the head with an iron rod, and Zhang Zongxiang fell to the ground. The students thought he was beaten to death, and some people ran away shouting "Cao Rulin was beaten to death."After hearing the news, other people rushed to see if "Cao Rulin" was really beaten to death. Taking advantage of this gap, the Japanese Zhong Jiang Chouji rushed over, he supported Zhang Zongxiang, dragged him out of the back door, and then pushed Zhang Zongxiang to the oil and salt store opposite.Seeing that "Cao Rulin" was not dead, the students would not let it go. They followed up and tried to drag "Cao Rulin" out and beat him, but the Japanese tried his best to protect him. He was beaten badly.Fortunately, Zhongjiang Chouji kept yelling in unproficient Chinese during the beating. The students knew that he was not Chinese, so they showed mercy. After the fire broke out, a large number of patrolmen arrived, and finally dispersed the students and spectators, and arrested 32 people on the spot (including the famous Xu Deyan).Afterwards, the fire brigade rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire, but at this time Cao's house had been burned down to only the concierge and a part of the west courtyard.Fortunately, Cao Rulin and his family also sneaked away while the fire started, and there were no casualties (not counting Zhang Zongxiang and the Japanese who were beaten with blue eyes and blue eyes). "Burning the Zhaojialou and beating Zhang Zongxiang" can be said to be the climax of the May Fourth Movement. Many people thought that the burning of the Zhaojialou was just caused by the righteous indignation of the students, but it was not the case.According to the memories of the participating students, this operation was prepared long ago, but only within a very small range. Who set the fire?According to the memories of the students who witnessed the incident, this person was Kuang Husheng, a student of Beijing Higher Normal School (the predecessor of Beijing Normal University).When the students were looking for Cao Rulin everywhere, Kuang Husheng took out the matches prepared in advance and prepared to set fire.At this time, Duan Xipeng, another person in charge of the parade, hurriedly stopped him and said, "I can't bear this responsibility!" Kuang Husheng said, "Who wants you to be responsible! You really can't bear the responsibility!" Another eyewitness named Xiao Lao recalled that he saw two students in long gowns take out a flat iron pot containing kerosene from their side, they whispered "set fire", and then entered the north room of the courtyard and put The carpet was lifted up, folded on top of the square table, kerosene was poured on it, and then lit with a match, thick smoke rose instantly.The eyewitness was following the two long-sleeve students at that time, and he also recognized them as students of Beijing Higher Normal School. Apart from Kuang Husheng, the two students of Beijing Higher Normal School also had a student named Zhou Yutong.Before the May 4th parade, they even planned to get a pistol and kill Cao Rulin, but unfortunately they failed.On the night of May 3rd, Kuang Husheng and others secretly summoned more than a dozen members of the Engineering Society, and decided to bring iron tools, small pots of kerosene and matches to go, ready to destroy things and set fire to them.Kuang Husheng and Zhou Yutong also wrote a suicide note, preparing to sacrifice.Zhou Yutong later recalled that the parade commanders Fu Sinian and Duan Xipeng had no knowledge of their secret operations.In fact, it was Kuang Husheng and other people who opened the gate, and they entered after breaking through a window hole in the wall surrounding Cao's house. After the students were arrested, Peking University President Cai Yuanpei immediately made representations to the Police Department, demanding the immediate release of the patriotic students. After the request was rejected, the Peking University students set up a board of directors that night. Members of the Education Lecture Group and the Youth Chinese Society joined in one after another. The board of directors also set up departments for general affairs, clerical affairs, communication, picketing, and speeches, and planned to expand the strike to rescue the arrested students. On the morning of the 5th, student representatives from various colleges and universities in Beijing convened a meeting, announcing that all classes would go on strike from now on, and telegrams were sent across the country to request support.Because the school is located in a remote area, Tsinghua School, which did not participate in the parade the day before, also held a student assembly and announced that it will act in concert with other schools.Under such circumstances, more than a dozen schools in Beijing's academic circle also set up a "Principals Group" to organize the rescue of the arrested students. Fearing that the students would participate in the National Assembly held on the 7th on a larger scale, Police Chief Wu Bingxiang agreed to release the arrested students, but as a condition for the return, the students must resume classes on the 7th.Under the persuasion of Cai Yuanpei and others, the students returned to class, and the arrested students were also released that morning.In order to celebrate the freedom of the arrested students, the board of directors specially arranged three cars to pick up those students.After returning to Peking University, everyone moved out five square tables and invited the arrested students to take a group photo as a souvenir, which can be regarded as a small victory of the movement. Some people may ask, what is the origin of the three traitors "Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang" who were designated by the students to be executed, and what crimes did they commit? It is said that after the students burned his house down, Cao Rulin defended himself for what he did in the past, "I dare not speak of merit, why should I see the crime"; while Lu Zongyu was also full of complaints, "I can't think about it." ; Zhang Zongxiang, who was beaten for no reason, submitted his resignation, saying that "all the matters in the negotiation between China and Japan are strictly in accordance with the government's orders, and there are records in the exchange of documents and telegrams"... The three of us are just the principals , How can the big hat of "traitorous" fall on our heads? If you go over the biography of Cao, Lu, and Zhang, these three can be regarded as outstanding talents in our country and standard returnees.The most interesting thing is that not only are the three of them close in origin, but they also have similar personalities.For example, Cao Rulin, who was originally from Zhejiang and was born in Shanghai, went to Japan to study in the late Qing Dynasty and graduated from the Department of Law and Politics of Chuo University in Japan.After returning to China, Cao Rulin participated in the foreign student examination and won the second place, and was appointed as "Foreign Hanlin".Afterwards, Cao Rulin went smoothly in his official career and became Yuan Shikai's confidant. Lu Zongyu is a native of Haining, Zhejiang Province. He went to Japan to study in the late Qing Dynasty. He graduated from Waseda University.Lu Zongyu once went abroad with Zaize to investigate the constitutional government, and was appreciated by Xu Shichang, and later became a member of the Beiyang School.Zhang Zongxiang was from Wuxing, Zhejiang. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University when he was studying in Japan. After the fall of the Qing court, Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang all served as important officials under Yuan Shikai or Duan Qirui, and some of them participated in traitorous behaviors because of their positions. For example, Cao Rulin was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications. Lu Zongyu was the envoy to Japan when the "Twenty-One" was signed; Zhang Zongxiang was the handler of the "China-Japan Military Secret Exchange" and was the envoy to Japan at the time. There is an injustice and a debtor. If the students don't look for you three, who will they look for? The most amusing thing is that during the May 4th movement, both Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu were expelled from their hometowns by their hometown elders, and became people with "no native place" in China.Of course, Zhang Zongxiang was the most unlucky one. In mid-April not long ago, when he set off from Japan to return home, many Japanese political figures and diplomatic figures stationed in Japan went to Tokyo Railway Station to see him off. Zhang Zongxiang thought that they were also here to send off the Chinese students studying abroad, but who knew that these people threw the white mourning flag with the words "traitor" and "disaster" into the car, and shouted: "Zhang Zongxiang, Minister Zhang , since you like to betray your country, why don't you sell your wife?" After hearing this, Zhang Zongxiang immediately blushed like a pig's liver, and Mrs. Zhang was also trembling with anger, with tears in her eyes. Later, Cao Rulin frankly stated in his memoir "Memories of a Lifetime": "This incident happened more than 40 years ago. In retrospect, it is also good for oneself and others. Although the three of us were sacrificed in an unclear way, But it aroused the patriotism of most people, and it finally paid off.” It is true that when dealing with treasonous affairs, there are well-documented telegrams. After all, treachery is a big matter, and it is not something the "three thieves" can sell privately.However, after a period of silence after being dismissed from office during the "May 4th Movement", these three people became Feng's wife again during the Japanese invasion of China and took up different false positions. From this point of view, the words "traitor" really did not wrong them.