Chapter 3 Let the bullets fly

On the second day of March in the Xinhai Year, that is, March 31, 1911, a new tavern was opened at No. 20 Huangtupo, Wuchang, called "Tongxing". On the opening day, it was very lively.It is next to the barracks of the New Army in Hubei, and most of the customers are brothers from the New Army in foreign uniforms.The shopkeeper's surname is Deng. I heard that he just returned to Wuchang from Yangzhou half a month ago. The wine and food sold in this tavern are not very good, but there are many people coming and going.The tavern has been open for three or four months, and the business is getting better every day.

If you pay attention, you will find that the salutes they make to each other are a bit strange-ordinary people always bow their hands to each other, and the bannermen meet with half knees to say hello.Many people who come to the tavern always bow to each other when they meet each other, then make a fist with their right hand, touch their chest with their left hand, then straighten their collar buttons (because they are all soldiers), and then answer a few words, where are they coming from, where are they going, and so on. Sit together and drink affectionately, or let the waiter let you into the private room in the back room.

This must be a contact point for some gang. If you are a brother in the new army, sooner or later, a fellow villager or comrade will come up to you by taking a break in the exercise room or lighting a cigarette and ask: Do you want to join the Commendation Association? Together?I have only heard that there is a heaven and earth society where brothers and elders meet. So the person who asked the question secretly handed you a piece of poorly printed paper. "When on duty, look behind your back." He added: "My wealth and life are in your hands." I understand a little bit.Avoiding people in the middle of the night, I read the paper carefully by the light:

The following tells a lot about the history of resisting Manchu and Xinghan, and finally said: This manifesto is very clear. In fact, you have seen their slogans somewhere before, such as "be patient with the clothes of the country, and be reduced to barbarians; lead the heroes of the Central Plains, and return my rivers and mountains"-this is originally from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Discussing the call to fullness, reading it today, don't feel it. There are also some pamphlets, such as "Revolutionary Army", "Slam Back", "Warning Bell" and so on.There are also reprinted "Ten Diaries of Yangzhou" and "Jiading Massacre".

The Hubei New Army is very different from the previous Green Camp.After the imperial court abolished the imperial examination in the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), the lower-level scholars, from children to scholars, and even some of them had no way out.Rich people go abroad to study, become "foreign Jinshi", or go to Shanghai to enter a foreign school, and there are also some who stay in the provincial capital to study, but there are also many people who are poor, educated and rich, and their families eat porridge. , not only can no longer pass the exam, but also lose the qualification to be a school teacher.Those who are really frail and have a heavy family have no choice but to enter a normal school that does not cost money, learn some basic knowledge of sound, light, chemistry, and electricity, and hope to earn a living in a new-style primary school after graduation.

Many scholars who have some physical strength and can't leave their families behind should be recruited into the new army.In the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905) when recruiting troops in Huangpi, Hubei, ninety-six soldiers joined the army, but there were twelve grannies and twenty-four scholars.Each standard and each battalion are roughly the same.These well-educated people joined the army, not all to support their families, they always wanted to make a career. Since the Song Dynasty, the imperial court has always emphasized civility over military affairs. It is not uncommon for literati to lead the army. No future.But since Daoxian, the country has been weak and the people's livelihood has declined. A rich country and a strong army have become everyone's dream.Doesn't the popular Liang Rengong have a poem: "The poetry world has been popular for thousands of years, and the soul of the soldiers has been exhausted. The soul of the country is empty. Concentrate ninety-nine on military music, and the ancient men let go!" He praised Lu Fangweng, but he inspired countless people today. The heart of a hot-blooded boy.

In addition, in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Tang Caichang failed to organize an independent army "King Qin" in the two lakes.Wu Luzhen and others learned from the painful experience, and sent the remaining members of the self-reliant army to join the Hubei New Army, waiting for an opportunity.It is said that Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, felt that the new army was unstable, so he mobilized the town, standard, and battalion leaders many times, and sent bannermen to key positions as much as possible.However, most of the minds of the brothers in the new army are still active.

You know these things very well in your heart, so you were not too surprised when you got the leaflet of the Gongjinhui, you just thought about it for a few nights.Of course you know that once you join the association, it is a serious crime of treason, ranking first among the "heinous crimes".It's just that the state affairs are like this, which Chinese is willing to spend it so relentlessly? As for the last sentence of the leaflet, "Remember not to attack churches and kill foreigners, so as not to cause foreigners to interfere", it is easy to understand that Wuhan is a place of nine-port trade and there are many foreigners. Step in and things are much easier.Haven't you learned enough from the Boxer Regiment in the Gengzi Year?Up to now, the tax bank of the Qing Dynasty has been filled with indemnities for more than a year, flowing to distant foreign countries to make people fatter.

Grandma's!Such a court, let it go! Once you have made up your mind, someone will naturally pick you up. As expected, the point of contact is Tongxing Restaurant in Huangtupo.The waiter let the guide and you into the back room, walked through the kitchen, and sat down under the locust tree in the backyard.Someone sent a "letter of wishes". It was the printed form, with blank names to be filled in: You have heard of Mr. Liu, he is a well-known gentry in this city.The rest of the names are very strange.But it seems that it is a large and rigorous organization.The introducer also told you mysteriously that "Sun Yat-sen" is the "Sun Wen" who was shouted and captured by the imperial court every day. "It was calculated by Mr. Zhang Binglin, a scholar in the meeting.

After filling out the "Wish Letter" and pressing your fingerprints, you will become a member of Gongjin, and the introducer will explain to you the etiquette rules, what are the mountains, waters, halls, incense, the name of the mountain is Zhonghua Mountain, and the name of the water is Xinghanshui. The name of the hall is Guangfu Hall, and the name of the incense is Bao Guoxiang. It is similar to the general meeting party. There are also a few poems, which are used when going out to the mountain hall to worship the pier. On the other hand, you should quickly memorize the etiquette on weekdays, otherwise you will break into the meeting place without knowing the etiquette, and you will easily be misunderstood as a spy.

You have seen these etiquettes, such as clenching a fist with the right hand, which means "keep secrets", touching the chest with the left hand, which means "holding the purpose", and tidying the collar button, which means "restoring China".And the password changes every day, if you need to attend the meeting, someone will naturally notify you. Then they tell you that the Gongjin Association implements "battalionism" in the new army, which means that the new army members are recruited row by row, battalion by battalion.So, how many brothers in the congregation do we have in total?You ask. Among the more than 15,000 new troops in the three towns of Wuhan, there are always more than 2,000 people who filled out the "wish letter" like you, and more than 4,000 people sympathized with the revolution and agreed to help. You startled.Then, how many people are there in our Eighth Town Engineering Battalion? More than six hundred, almost seven hundred.Just count the number of brothers in your camp. Obediently!You stick out your tongue.So, when is the incident going to happen? Soon!The speaker looked at the sky outside. It was still annoyingly hot in Wuchang at the end of July and beginning of August.The chirping of the cicadas sounded more urgent than in midsummer, as if they knew that there was not much time left. Brothers are waiting for the arrangement from above, once the time is right, fuck it! The door creaked and Liu Tong came in. No one supports him.Everyone manages to do their own thing.Sun Wu sat by the window and put the explosives to be used in a few days in the washbasin to test the ingredients.Ding Lizhong and Li Zuodong stamped banknotes on the small round table in the middle of the room. After the incident, they could distribute them to citizens and establish the credit of the revolutionary army. ". Deng Yulin went out to buy watches but did not return.The uprising is imminent, and time unity is very important. Here in Baoshanli, Liu Tong often comes and goes.People didn't hate him, but they weren't welcome either.Because he can't do much.It's not easy to order him to do odd jobs, run errands or something.Because he is Liu Gong's younger brother. Funding for the Revolutionaries has always been tight.In the past, most of the members of the literary club were soldiers, so they collected "monthly donations" and collected one-tenth of the members' salaries every month.Because the Gongjin Association has various industries, it is inconvenient to collect monthly donations. It can only rely on voluntary donations from members, and there is no fixed fund. At the beginning of 1911, Tan Renfeng was ordered by Huang Xing to come to Hubei for inspection, and once handed over a thousand oceans to the Gongjin Association.But within three or four months, the money was spent.Seeing that the date of the October uprising drew closer, the question of funding became more acute. Those in charge of the meeting had to find their own way. Some people sold their fields to pay membership fees, and some went to persuade passing merchants to donate the goods they brought to join the meeting.In short, there are all kinds of magic weapons.Jiao Dafeng heard Juzheng talk about the "Golden Bodhisattva" in Dacheng Temple, Guangji County, his hometown, so he invited several people to steal the Buddha.On a stormy night in June, six revolutionaries sneaked into the temple and took away the golden Buddha. It's a pity that I met a policeman from the state on the road, afraid that the matter would be revealed, so I had to throw the golden Buddha into the paddy field.I don't know which farmer is cheaper. While everyone was sighing, Hunan comrade Zou Yongcheng came to Wuhan. As soon as he heard about this, he immediately offered advice, saying that his aunt lived in Baguajing, Wuchang, and there were a lot of gold and silver jewelry at home. Why not try to get it to fund the revolution.At first, everyone was worried about affecting their relationship with their aunts and nephews, but Zou Yongcheng patted his chest and thought that he might as well make up the report after the success of the revolution, so he agreed. The strategy is to find someone to prepare the drug, and this is handed over to Jiang Zhilan, a military doctor of the 31st standard.Zou Yongcheng went to buy a bottle of good wine by himself, and took the medicinal wine to bid farewell to his aunt.On that day, Sun Wu and Deng Yulin stayed outside Zou Yongcheng's aunt's house, waiting for the cry "It's too much" from inside, and rushed in to collect revolutionary funds. Unexpectedly, from noon to the end of a meal, I still heard laughter and chatter inside, and some people called "add wine and scramble an egg".After finally waiting for Zou Yongcheng to come out with a red face, he just waved his hands and said, "The medicine doesn't work, it's in the way."The three of them walked back to Baoshanli together, scolding Jiang Zhilan for being so poor in medicine that she couldn't even mix the secondary drug. Zou Yongcheng later made another plan, tricking his aunt and young son to Hankou, leaving a letter pretending to be a bandit and extorting property.This time I finally got 800 yuan. But revolution is a bottomless cause, so what is the use of eight hundred yuan?It's gone.During that time, the people in charge had a difficult life. Sun Wu, Deng Yulin, and Jiao Dafeng pawned all the clothes in their homes, and each of them only had a set of underwear. They took them off every night when they went to bed, and they had to be washed by Mrs. Sun Wu, and they were washed again the next day. well dressed.There is only one common outer shirt, and whoever wants to go to the street can wear it.Fortunately, it is hot in Wuchang, so I can live in underwear at home. This dilemma was not resolved until Liu Gong came to Wuchang from Xiangyang. Mr. Liu's family is very rich in Xiangyang. When he was studying in Japan in his early years, he joined the Tongmenghui and helped Minbao.His cousin Tao Dekun, who recently returned from studying in the United States, is also a member of the alliance.After a discussion, the Gongjinhui decided to appoint Liu Gong as the chairman, and the funds were also settled on him. Liu Gong also has the heart to donate to the revolution.Unfortunately, in traditional Chinese families, the children do not separate their households and live separately, and the expenses are not hindered, but they do not have a lot of money in their hands.Just when cousin Tao came back from the United States, the two agreed on a plan.Cousin Tao came forward to persuade Liu Zijing, Liu Gong’s father, to donate an official to Liu Gong, saying, “My cousin is a Japanese student studying abroad. It is hopeful, and it can’t compare to those donating classes who only have money and have no ability.” Liu Zijing thought it made sense, so he agreed to donate a Taoist platform to Mr. Liu, plus donating the tricks of "filling in when there is a vacancy" and "referring to the province for appointment". After calculation, it would cost more than 10,000 silver, and cousin Tao added a lot Oil and vinegar, finally talked so that the old man issued a silver note of 20,000 taels. Of the 20,000 taels of silver, 10,000 taels were given to the Gongjin Association as revolutionary funds, so that people could be sent to Shanghai and Guangzhou to buy guns and bombs.Everyone in the meeting was very grateful to Mr. Liu, and only showed respect to his younger brother Liu Tong. Unexpectedly, Liu Tong was careless and didn't pay attention at all.Sun Tzu was testing the prepared explosives in the washbasin, but he was fine, smoking a cigarette and standing by to watch.I brushed off the soot, sparks fell on the explosives, and there was a snort, boom, the whole room was filled with thick smoke! Sun Wu was the closest. His face was injured immediately, he could not see in both eyes, and his right hand was bleeding profusely. Wang Boyu, who was cleaning up the documents, was not far away, and his right eye was burned by explosives.Li Zuodong and Ding Lizhong were shocked, but fortunately they were not injured.Liu Tong himself was not hurt, but his face was blackened. At this time, the splashed explosives had already set the tables and chairs in the room on fire, and the thick smoke billowed out of the windows, and the sound of someone yelling "put out the fire" could already be heard outside.Everyone knew that the fire brigade and the police from the concession would arrive soon, so Li Zuodong quickly tore off a long gown from the hanger and covered Sun Wu's head and face. In the next few rooms, there were people from the fellowship meeting, and they all rushed in at this time, seeing that the fire was very strong, so they had to escape first.Chairman Liu Gong is also next door, but he hasn't messed up yet, so he told people to take the documents and registers away, so that they don't fall into the hands of the police. Unexpectedly, the busier and the more chaotic, the key to the file cabinet was taken away by Deng Yulin who went to the street to buy a watch!I don't have an ax and a sledge at hand, so I don't care much at this time, so let's withdraw first! It was also narrowly avoided shaving his head. As soon as he reached the gate of the yard, a group of Russian patrolmen had already rushed to him.The one in charge asked loudly in Russian, apparently wanting to know what happened. Mr. Liu covered his face with the hem of his gown, yelled "kerosene explosion", pointed to the courtyard, and walked out regardless of whether the Russian policeman understood or not, and everyone rushed out, but the policemen couldn't stop them. them.Only the last few were arrested. As a result, the explosives, flags, armbands, registers, proclamations, and stamped banknotes in Baoshanli all fell into the hands of Russian patrols.The Gongjinhui has been planning for many years, and most of the secret preparations for the event planned to be launched in a few days have been exposed to the Wuchang government of the Qing Dynasty. An hour later, Liu Tong was arrested when he returned to his apartment to collect documents.Liu Gong, Deng Yulin, and Sun Wu all thought that he could not keep the secret, and the roster had been leaked, and now it was a matter of life and death. "If you do it right away, you can still survive." Sun Wu said. Deng Yulin immediately rushed to No. 85, Xiaochao Street, Wuchang, where the proposed military headquarters was located.The order was drawn up quickly: uprising, tonight! This is the third year of Xuantong, August 18th of Xinhai, and October 9th, 1911 in the Gregorian calendar. But it was still a step too late. As soon as the uprising order was issued, Xiaochao Street was surrounded by a large number of patrolmen and guards of the governor's courtyard. Zhang Biao, the commander of the eighth town, led the team himself.Liu Fuji, Peng Chufan, Yang Hongsheng and other key officials were arrested.More than forty people were also arrested. This is the scariest night ever.The army and police are everywhere, all over the city of Wuchang. At the same time, the cavalrymen repeatedly go back and forth between the supervisory office and the barracks. The uprising plan has been fully exposed. After Liu, Peng, and Yang were arrested, they were interrogated immediately.The governor of Huguang, Rui Li, has realized the importance of the matter.At five o'clock in the morning, a cannon rang, and three heads were already hung on the flagpole outside the east gate of the Superintendent's Office. It was getting brighter.The scouts went out everywhere, and the arrested soldiers, merchants, journalists, and citizens were sent to the supervisory office in batches.In the past two days, I don't know how many human heads will hang on this tall flagpole. They're done!Zhang Biao thought coldly. Yang Hongsheng came for the second time to deliver bullets. Ever since the new army had rumors of internal disturbances from time to time, and the new army dispatched in Zizhou rose up and killed Duan Fang, governor of Sichuan.A few days ago, the Wuchang Superintendent's Office ordered that all battalions confiscate bullets, and distribute them according to the number during shooting training.In this way, brothers in the new army, everyone is out of bullets. On October 9, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Deng Yulin and Yang Hongsheng rushed to the engineering camp and summoned the chief representative Xiong Bingkun.The brothers in the meeting knew that something important was going to happen, so they gathered outside the barracks in twos and threes to listen to the news. really.As soon as Deng and Yang left, Xiong Bingkun immediately summoned all the sheds to report: Hankou bomb test was inadvertent, Sun Wu was injured and hospitalized, the roster fell into the hands of the supervisory office, and party members are being hunted and arrested.The military command decided to revolt tonight.Specifically for the engineering camp, Xiong conveyed the four points of the three-person secret businessman just now: (1) the epaulets are turned upside down, and the right arm is wrapped with a white bandage for identification; The key task of the battalion is to occupy the Chuwangtai Ordnance Station, and then send troops to welcome the Nanhu Artillery Team into the city; (4) The slogan tonight is "Work together". Xiong Bingkun said that he had sent the detachment leader Zheng Tingjun to the Chuwangtai Ordnance Station to inform the comrades there. "We don't have bullets, how can we make trouble?" "Brother Yang Hongsheng will deliver the bullets in a while. You should prepare first." An hour later, Yang Hongsheng reappeared and left again.We once again gathered in Xiong Bingkun's barracks. "There are only two boxes of bullets." Xiong Bingkun said while pouring the bullets in the box on the bed, "I will keep six bullets, and you can take the rest, and each comrade in the meeting will have three bullets. Brothers who are always disputing and disobedient, each will receive two pills." When we went out, Mr. Xiong chased after him: "If the officials don't oppose the uprising, we will never kill on purpose." According to the account, on the night of October 9, as soon as the artillery team fired outside the city, the engineering battalion immediately raised an incident and marched towards Chuwangtai. At half past nine, the barracks turned off the lights as usual and went to bed.But no one dared to sleep. They leaned on the bunk with their clothes on, and they didn't dare to speak, just waiting for the sound of the guns. However, one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock... one night passed.No cannon was heard either. At daybreak, I opened the door and took a peek outside. The gate of the camp and the playground were full of people. If I looked carefully, most of them were officers above the platoon leader, all armed with live ammunition, patrolling back and forth.It looked like he hadn't slept all night. The brothers in the camp, whether they participated in the uprising or not, were all muttering in their hearts.During breakfast, many people looked at Xiong Bingkun.He is sitting at our table. Xiong Bingkun also frowned.He also stayed up all night and did not wait for the sound of the cannon.To make matters worse, I just heard this morning that Ren Zhengang of the left team was arrested. Ren Zhengang is the leader of the detachment, and he is trusted by the platoon leader on weekdays, and he has never doubted that he is a revolutionary party.Last night, the supervisory office secretly ordered martial law, and there was not enough manpower. The platoon leader went to him to participate in the inspection, but when he entered the door, he saw that his military uniform was neat, and his right arm was still wrapped in a white cloth. There are two bullets in the gun.This is undoubtedly preparing for an incident.So the battalion commander ordered Ren Zhengang to be detained immediately, and the battalions investigated.As soon as the wind got out, the brothers who received the bullets all threw away the bullets. Facing the steamed buns and rice porridge in front of them, no one has any appetite.But breakfast was the last chance for discussion, and everyone pretended to be chewing while urging Xiong Bingkun to find a solution. Is there any way to think about it?The news inside and outside the city was completely cut off.Yang Hongsheng originally said that he would send another bomb, but there was no news after he left.Last night, before the sound of the cannon was fired, the uprising was already in danger. Xiong Bingkun gritted his teeth: "Yesterday, I had a discussion with Deng and Yang. If you don't do it, you will die. If you do it, you may still be able to fight! The ammunition hidden in the ordnance is the key to the success of the uprising. I decided: Do it this afternoon!" No one at the table could say anything.No one objected. "In this way, at breakfast time, the officials are patrolling outside. You tell the representatives of each team separately, saying that we have received an order from the headquarters to ask the engineering battalion to launch an attack first and seize the ordnance station before distributing ammunition to the entire army. That's it, It is scheduled to be activated during evening exercises at three o'clock in the afternoon!" "But, still no bullets..." "Well, it's a problem... Let's arrange it first... If it doesn't work, I can only grab the gun with bare hands!" At ten o'clock in the morning, news came from the city that Yang Hongsheng's head, together with those of Liu Fuji and Peng Chufan, had been hung on the flagpole at the gate of the governor's office. If you don't do it, you are really waiting to die.But bullets are still a problem. Lu Gongchao from the second shed suddenly stood up: "I have bullets at home!" "Where did you get the bullets from?" "My brother is Ma Bian, commander of Wu Yuankai's battalion. Their battalion was disbanded after returning from Beitongzhou. My brother gave some bullets to my sister-in-law for safekeeping. He went to Sichuan..." At a time like this, I don't care about your brother and sister-in-law, as long as you have bullets! Representative Xiong was careful and sent three people to Lu Gongchao's house to steal bullets separately, and told them not to go together.The time of returning to camp must be sequenced. At twelve o'clock, the bullets were taken, and there were six boxes in total.In this way, everyone gets more than nine grains, which greatly boosts morale. After receiving the order in the afternoon, the evening exercises were cancelled.The attack time can only be postponed until after the first roll call, around seven o'clock. I was sent to the armory to communicate with the comrades guarding the warehouse. At seven o'clock, gunshots erupted from the engineering battalion.The uprising has finally begun! Comrades Luo Bingshun, Ma Rong and others from the Armory Depot and I were about to rush out.The door opened, and Li Keguo, the armory supervisor, appeared at the door. He can see what we want at a glance. "Assemble in the yard!" We went out into the yard to see what he had to say. Li Keguo is a nice person, and he is also kind on weekdays.At this time, his face was not necessarily very nervous, but he said slowly: "We have worked together in the engineering camp for five or six years, can everyone listen to me?" The hum gradually died down.Everyone clutched their guns and listened to him. "It's so noisy outside, you all heard it?" "I heard." There were sparse answers. "This surveillance officer thinks for you: If there are illegal bandits coming from outside, you have a great responsibility to guard the treasury, so of course you have to fight hard; if it is a regular army, you are few, so you might as well avoid it." Luo Bingshun had an idea: "We haven't seen a single bullet, how can we resist?" Li Keguo waved his hand, and the warehouse worker opened the warehouse door and took out two boxes of ammunition. "You share!" The gates of the armory swung open, and a crowd emerged by the light of torches.They are all comrades and brothers of the eighth battalion of the project. The soldiers guarding the armory immediately raised their guns and pulled the trigger, and the bullets flew like swarms of night owls. However, the bullets all shot into the night sky. More and more torches poured into the door, and some people began to shout the slogan "One heart!" Someone here answered "Work together!" I heard Li Keguo behind me sigh, and quietly disappeared into the darkness. The armory is ours now.Wuchang will also be ours. The flames from the Chu Watchtower reddened the night sky. Many years later, I found out that in the Yangtze River ten miles away, on a China Merchants ship that was about to set off, the passengers were all watching the fire at Chuwangtai and whispering.In the crowd, stood a key person who would affect the overall situation in the future. His name is Zhang Jian, the number one scholar in Enke in the Jiawu period, an imperial scholar and a scholar, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, the head of Jiangning Wenzheng Academy, and the general counsel of the Ministry of Commerce.The last straw of the Qing Dynasty.