Master Yuan, start!

Now that I am over 40, why should I join in the fun?

If you are really interested, learn more from Huang Keqiang about how political parties handle affairs.

If this political party is used well in the future, it will be like having an army of thousands!"

Just as Li Hongzhang was giving Li Jingfang instructions, there was suddenly a burst of commotion outside the door, and the sound of footsteps hitting the ground seemed particularly chaotic.

"What happened?"

Li Jingfang pushed open the gate and asked the guard at the door.

Without waiting for the guard's reply, the copy clerk stationed at the Wuchang Telegraph Office by the Huai Army hurried into the alley at the distant street corner.

As he ran, he kept shouting, "Oh no! Something terrible has happened!"

"How unbecoming is it to be in a panic!"

At some point, Li Hongzhang also came to the door on crutches. Seeing the copy clerk who had lost his shoes, he couldn't help but scold him.

"Oh no! Marshal Quan, Commander Liu, Commander Liu..."

"Commander Liu was assassinated, shot three times, and his life or death is unknown!"

Yue Fei?n9163101

"What? ZhongUn:C四35溜"

When Li Jingfang heard the news, he pretended to be surprised and shouted very loudly.

At the same time, he screamed and glanced at Li Hongzhang beside him.

As expected, when Li Hongzhang heard the news, his eyes widened, his right hand that was holding the crutch went limp, and he almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Li Jingfang was quick to act and held his arm, thus preventing Li Hongzhang from making a fool of himself.

Li Hongzhang didn't notice the strange expression on his son's face at all at this moment.

There was only one thought in his mind.

"Yuan Xiangcheng, did you do this?"

We will postpone the National Day for one day, and give you a red envelope as an apology. Go and get it!

As the title says, everyone can go to the Dudu Discovery page to get it.

I wrote more than 10,000 words yesterday, and my brain is running out, so I'll take a break today.

I wish you all a happy National Day, good food, fun, drink and sleep.

Take care of your body, stay safe, and maintain a good work and rest schedule.

Chapter 381 Public Opinion Fermentation

While Yuan Shikai was still on his way to Wuchang, Liu Bingzhang died of his injuries. The confirmed news of his death was transmitted to Wuchang City via telegram that night.

After receiving this news, the spies stationed at the Wuchang Telegraph Office by Li Jingfang quickly spread it to the public through various channels.

Early the next morning, the sky cleared slightly on the main street of Wuchang and the roosters had just crowed.

Instigated by a group of Huaxing Party members from Hubei, a group of reporters, students, local vendors, common people and young hooligans gathered together, shouting slogans everywhere.

"The murderer must be punished with his life!"

"Seeking peace is false, seeking life is true!"

"The people of Sichuan will never let the real murderer go!"

It is the end of May in the lunar calendar, which is close to July in the solar calendar, and it is the hottest time of the year.

Wuhan is a well-known hot city, and the temperature is not low even in the early morning.

But these people ignored the heat and walked around the street again and again, holding various slogans of "Put the real culprit to justice", and were reluctant to disperse.

Who is the real murderer?

This group of people did not mention anyone by name, but seemed to have made it very clear.

On the street directly opposite the Yellow Crane Tower, a large number of Huaxing Party members gathered on a makeshift wooden platform. Surrounded by a crowd of people who did not know the truth, they lamented how much Li Hongzhang valued peace and how much Liu Bingzhang supported the talks.

After a tearful performance, they changed the subject and angrily pointed out that someone did not want to negotiate and sent assassins to assassinate him.

The masses are protesting and setting up a stage for satire, and it is very clear who the target is.

How could an ordinary person dare to target the President of the Republic so blatantly?

In the Qing Dynasty, even a small prefect could arrest all these people. How could he allow them to be so arrogant?

On the one hand, after the founding of the Republic, the increasingly relaxed political atmosphere made these people bolder.

On the other hand, this is entirely the work of Li Jingfang.

Their purpose was to use the assassination to discredit Yuan Shikai and ruin his reputation.

The blind people always seem to be easily provoked. More than a year ago, they were still celebrating Yuan Shikai's overthrow of the Manchus, driving away the Tartars, and establishing a Han Chinese kingdom.

A year later, they criticized the heroes they once cheered for.

There were even people who, under the banner of Sichuan people, sought justice for Liu Bingzhang, writing in blood the four characters "I will not close my eyes even after death", and calling for the real murderer to be severely punished.

Although no one knows why the Sichuan people ran to Wuchang so quickly, in the beginning, many ignorant people were instigated and joined in.

Under the "deliberate guidance" of some people, they all thought that Yuan Shikai was the mastermind behind the assassination.

They firmly believed in the "truth" they were told.

After the Sichuan rebellion, who benefited the most? It must have been Yuan Shikai, who wanted to quickly unify the country.

Listening to the protests rising one after another outside the window, Li Jingfang stood on the Yellow Crane Tower with a sinister smile on his face.

"Well done. Now there's a large army outside and protests inside. I want to see how Yuan Xiangcheng will deal with this dangerous situation!"

It turned out that after Li Jingfang heard that Yuan Shikai led his troops westward, he hurriedly persuaded Li Hongzhang to dispatch the Lingnan New Army on standby near Yueyang to the north and station at Jinkou Town south of Wuchang City.

Although Li Hongzhang was certain that Yuan Shikai would not start a massacre, he was not sure what Yuan Shikai was planning, so he acquiesced to the troop deployment.

In this way, Li Jingfang achieved his personal goal of "destroying Yuan."

However, Li Jingfang obviously underestimated Yuan Xiangcheng.

Underestimating the "perfect image" he created in the hearts of the people

You should know that Yuan Shikai was not only the president, but also the first person in the late Qing Dynasty to fight foreign wars with the four major achievements of "defeating the French, driving out the Manchus and resisting Russia".

Whether it was Fukang'an surrendering to the Gurkhas, Zhaohui defeating the Dzungars, or Zuo Zongtang destroying Yakub Beg, they were all fighting against marginal countries or separatist regimes.

As for Yuan Xiangcheng, all the troops he fought against were elite soldiers.

It can be said that all the foreign war generals of the Qing Dynasty are only as powerful as Yuan Shikai alone.

Although many ignorant people were incited to march and demonstrate.

But within just one day, more students and scholars who believed in Yuan Xiangcheng reacted.

Led by members of the local Socialist Revolutionary Party, they also took to the streets, shouting slogans such as "Find out the real culprit as soon as possible" and "Don't judge people without authorization", calling on everyone to remain calm.

When the two groups met on the street, they first started to quarrel with each other, and then they actually fought each other, and many people were injured.

When Zhang Zhidong saw this situation, he could only send a telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking him to come to Wuchang as soon as possible, while ordering the police to maintain order in the city and try his best to avoid loss of life.

He doesn't want to offend anyone on either side!

The Wuchang demonstrations lasted for two days, and even major cities such as Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, and Incheon were affected.

Anti-Yuan demonstrations had already begun in Guangzhou, the headquarters of the Huaxing Party.

Under the deliberate guidance of the local Socialist Revolutionary Party, Shanghai and Incheon gradually formed a trend of "finding out the truth and severely punishing the real culprit."

However, in such an urgent situation, it took Yuan Shikai three full days to reach Wuchang from Jiangning.

It’s a whole day slower than normal speed!

Especially the stay in Jiujiang was much longer than usual.

After arriving near Wuchang, Yuan Shikai did not bring his army into the city, but only let the National Revolutionary Army set up camp in Qingshan Town, 50 miles east of Wuchang.

Under the escort of more than 800 elite guards, he got off the boat, changed horses, and rushed to Wuchang City without stopping.

After Yuan Xiangcheng entered the city, he heard that many people pointed their spearheads at him and held demonstrations.

After knowing the scene in the city, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The saying “tens of thousands of people, IQ halved” does not seem to be false.

Although freedom of association, freedom of assembly, cultural freedom and market freedom are part of national freedom.

But this person is a little too free.

At this moment, Yuan Xiangcheng deeply agreed with a line of lyrics by Jeff Chang.

"How could I bear to let you make mistakes? I gave you too much freedom."

If China today were still a feudal regime, these people would probably not dare to take to the streets to accuse themselves, right?

Just like in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, in order to gain fame, ministers were proud to receive the beating in the court, and scholars were proud to cry in the Confucius Temple. The Ming Dynasty government was often helpless about these actions and could only let them perform.

Even so, these rentiers in the Ming Dynasty were often still dissatisfied with the imperial court.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu emperor killed anyone who tried to "seek fame" in this way.

Under the harsh laws and punishments, the whole world was praising the Manchu Tartars as "holy emperors and wise rulers."

If the supervision is lax, they will become arrogant; if the supervision is strict, they will behave themselves.

Feilu Group

However, even so, Yuan Xiangcheng did not intend to disperse these people.

A great man once said, if you simply tell the people where the fire pit is, they will not believe it.

You must dare to jump into the fire pit with the people. Only in this way, after the people suffer losses, will they trust you.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng tightly held in his hand the telegram he received from Jiangning when he stayed in Jiujiang.

This is a "revenge telegram" sent by Luo Chengxiang, a member of the Sichuan Social Revolutionary Party, to the Jiangning Telegraph Bureau at the request of Liu Shiliang, the general manager of the Sichuan-Hankou Railway.

"The Governor of Sichuan has been murdered. The true culprit is likely connected to the Li family. The people of Sichuan dare not arbitrarily judge him... I have sent people to take him to Wuchang. I only hope that the President will uphold justice, avenge the Governor's murder, and set the world right!"

After putting away the telegram, Yuan Xiangcheng let out a breath at his temporary residence, listening to the noise coming from outside.