Master Yuan, start!

So, although it was a grand event jointly held by socialists from Europe, America and Asia, the chairman of the conference, including a number of speakers, were almost all Germans.

Now, when Yan Fu said that the Chinese Socialist Revolutionary Party would provide support to the Second International and help train personnel for violent revolution, he was naturally accepted by everyone present.

After seeing the "rich and powerful" Chinese, Lenin, as a neighbor, naturally had different ideas in his mind.

After Lenin's brother's attempt to assassinate the Tsar failed, he moved with his family to Kazan near the Ural region, where he was exposed to Capital and Marxism.

Afterwards, he devoted himself to studying in the Kazan area and was admitted to the law department of St. Petersburg University. After graduation, Lenin often defended the poor peasants in Russia.

During this period, he actively spread Marxist ideas and established contacts with people like Geva Plekhanov, the leader of the Russian Marxist group Emancipation of Labour, and united Marxist groups near St. Petersburg to establish the St. Petersburg Workers' Group.

Just when Lenin was doing his best to find a way out for the Russian working class, he was arrested and imprisoned in 1896 because of a betrayal by an insider.

However, unlike the original time and space, Lenin was not exiled to Siberia by the Tsar. Due to the turbulent situation in Russia's Far East, the Tsar chose to exile some political prisoners in prison to southern Russia, that is, the Caucasus region.

Lenin spent two years in exile in Baku, a coastal city on the Caspian Sea.

During these two years, he devoted himself to the study of Marxism, contributed articles to some European workers' newspapers under the pseudonym Lenin, published articles, gradually became well-known, and forged friendships with Rosa Luxemburg, Bebel and others.

After leaving Baku in early 1898, he and a group of Russian Marxists founded the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in Minsk, Belarus.

This party had just been established and had not yet split into the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks that later generations knew.

In other words, Lenin at this time was not yet the resourceful, indomitable and resolute revolutionary mentor of later generations. He was still wavering about what path Russia should take.

"Mr. Lenin?" Yan Fu was quite surprised when Lenin introduced himself in front of him.

He didn't expect that the half-bald man sitting next to him was actually Lenin, the Russian who the chief instructor had asked him to pay special attention to before departure.

"What, Mr. Fu knows me?" Lenin looked at the surprised expression on Yan Fu's face and said reservedly.

"No...I don't know him." Yan Fu waved his hand and explained, "I've read your articles in the newspaper. They're very insightful and have given me a deeper understanding of the Russian situation!"

"I see." Lenin nodded, agreeing with the answer.

Yan Fu continued, “Also, Mr. Lenin, I want to clarify that we Chinese have the surname first and the given name last.

So, you should call me Mr. Yan, not Mr. Fu."

"Okay, Mr. Yan." Lenin paused, decided not to exchange pleasantries, and said:

“After the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was founded, it always wanted to launch a larger uprising, but this could not be achieved without the support of the Second International.

But you know, Mr. Yan, the Russian Revolution was not an important agenda item in the Second International.

Rather than sparking a workers' uprising on the distant Volga River, the Second International would rather launch a workers' movement in the heart of Europe, in the Ruhr, Alsace and Lorraine, and Lyon."

After the establishment of the Social Democratic Labor Party, Lenin applied for some assistance from the Second International, but unsurprisingly, all were rejected.

This is how European revolutionaries viewed revolutions around the world in a parallel universe around 1900.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries when social Darwinism was prevalent, they were indifferent and did not pay attention to the revolution in backward areas from the bottom of their hearts.

If Yan Fu had not launched the "Jin Yuan Offensive" at Yuan Shikai's behest, the Munich Congress would not have put the Chinese Revolution on the agenda. They would have preferred to discuss the issue of French socialists joining the capitalist cabinet.

The Russian Revolution was slightly better than the situation in China, but only to a limited extent.

European revolutionaries have not so far paid much attention to the course of the Russian Revolution.

Historically, it was not until 1905, when Russian revolutionaries launched a major uprising and riot that lasted for more than a year and affected the entire Russian and Eastern European regions, that the Second International truly took a serious look at the Russian Revolution.

However, they only took it in their perspective. The revolutionaries of the Second International still placed a considerable amount of focus on Germany.

So in Lenin's view, the Russian revolutionaries at this time urgently needed to seek strong support.

Because the power of the Russian Revolution was too weak and bad.

When did Russia become the center of the century's revolution?

In the parallel universe, this problem undoubtedly occurred after the October Revolution of 1917.

So before that, where was the place generally recognized as a place where a world revolution might break out?

They are mature industrial areas in Germany, Britain and France.

Even a genius like Marx believed that communist society would most likely be established first in a country with extremely developed capitalism.

This view was generally held by European revolutionaries at the time, and they did not care about remote Russia.

All I can say is that I hope the Russian revolutionaries can expose the capitalists’ true colors. Of course, it would be even better if the Russian Revolution won.

If they lost, and the British and German revolutions broke out and succeeded, the Russian revolutionaries would have one-third of the credit for the emergence of the new socialist country in the heart of Europe. As for the Chinese revolution?

Two words, let it happen.

Only those who firmly believe in these ideas are regarded as the successors of Marxism and the rational successors.

Trotsky, the later advocate of the "theory of permanent revolution", was a firm practitioner of this idea.

Even though he personally participated in the establishment of the Soviet Union, in his view, Russia was just a testing ground for communism.

The most meaningful thing about the Russian Revolution was that it triggered the German Revolution, which in turn would trigger a worldwide revolution based in Germany.

It’s a pity that the German Revolution failed, so the revolutionaries had to retreat to Russia and carry out the construction of "socialism in one country".

"I understand, Mr. Lenin." After listening to Lenin's complaints, Yan Fu nodded.

After attending the Munich Conference, he also understood a lot of inside information. Everyone says that it is better to provide help when it is needed than to add icing on the cake.

But in reality, few people can really do it.

Compared with the thriving workers' movements in Germany and France, the Russian workers' movement seemed too distant and unfamiliar.

He persuaded: "Mr. Lenin, I believe that the representatives of the Second International do not hate Russia. They just think that other places are more important. The Russian Revolution can be considered in the long run."

Upon hearing this, Lenin lowered his head slightly. He knew that Yan Fu was right, but as a Russian, he still felt neglected.

In fact, after learning that the Second International had rejected the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party's request for help, he originally did not want to attend the Munich Conference. It was only because of Rosa Luxemburg's kind invitation that he reluctantly agreed.

However, although Rosa Luxemburg supported the Russian Revolution, she was not the mainstream of the Second International.

Therefore, when Lenin saw that the Chinese expressed their willingness to help train "fighters" for the Second International at the Munich Conference, he hurried to find Yan Fu, hoping to seek some help from the farther East.

However, what Lenin did not expect was that in addition to coming to Munich to attend the Congress of the Second International, Yan Fu also did another thing, which was to find him.

"Mr. Lenin, these are checks for $5, deposited in accounts at Deutsche Bank, Citibank, and HSBC.

Yuan Xiangcheng, the leader of our Socialist Revolutionary Party, has asked me to give these things to you to help the development of the Russian Revolution."

Hearing these nine somewhat familiar names, Lebanon was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened.

“Yuan…Yuan Xiangcheng?” Lenin repeated, somewhat incredulously. “That Napoleon of the Far East actually knows of my existence?”

Yan Fu smiled and pointed at Lenin and said: "As a revolutionary from the northeastern frontier of China, he has always been very concerned about the revolutionary affairs in Russia.

In particular, Mr. Lenin, you once said that Tsarist Russia was a national prison, which made him say it was correct.

Yan Fu took off his hat, revealing his forehead. Even though he had grown some short hair, he had kept a braid for half his life and had never grown hair on the front of his head. After decades, traces of it were still left.

At this moment, although the hair on the back half of Yan Fu's head and the hair on the front half of his head were both black, they looked clearly different.

"Look at my hair, Mr. Lenin. We Chinese were once oppressed by the Tatars and imprisoned in this prison of China for nearly 300 years.

Now, facing our neighbor Russia, which is also like a cage that traps all ethnic groups, how can we turn a blind eye to it? "

Lenin was a Russian, but he was also a Russian who hated the Tsar.

He knew that a war that had taken place in the Far East a few years earlier had caused Russia to lose a large amount of territory there.

But in his view, this was the evil consequence of the Tsar's over-expansion, but Russia was forced to swallow it.

This is neither reasonable nor normal.

Therefore, he was not hostile to the Chinese Social Revolutionaries, just as he was not hostile to the French, Germans, and British.

These three countries had once made Russia pay a heavier price in the Crimean War, but this did not affect Lenin's dealings with revolutionaries in these places.

"It's such a surprise!"

Lenin felt a little embarrassed. He had not thought that seeking help from the Chinese would be so easy.

Yan Fujiu slipped a few bills into Lenin's pocket, patted his sweaty hands, and continued:

"Also, Mr. Lenin, you may have heard at the conference just now that the Chinese Social Revolutionaries are willing to help Europe train a group of revolutionary fighters.

I would like to ask the Russian revolutionaries, is there such a need?"

Isn’t that what the Russian revolutionaries are asking me?

Lenin was a little excited. He didn't expect that he would gain so much from attending the Munich Conference with a disappointed mood.

If everything goes well, the progress of the Russian Revolution will be advanced by at least 5 years, no, 10 years! Lenin thought so in his heart.

Under the high pressure of the Tsar, the Russian revolutionaries could only carry out some lone wolf terrorist attacks.

However, this approach not only failed to awaken the dull Russian people, but instead aroused their disgust, and also cost him his life.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, Lenin always opposed using assassinations to demonstrate its presence like the Narodnaya Volya Party.

But how difficult would it be to launch an organized and systematic uprising under the surveillance of the secret police?

Therefore, when Lenin heard that someone could secretly train practical forces for the Russian Revolution, he simply could not refuse.

"Of course!" Lenin nodded gravely and said, "We are not short of theorists or orators. What we in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party lack most are practical men who can launch an uprising with real weapons!"

"That's easy!" Yan Fu grinned and said:

"Russian friends, you can go to the Ussuri Autonomous Region, which was previously Russia's Amur Krai. I heard that the Tsar has built a railway to the east side of Lake Baikal. You can follow the railway all the way east.

Our people will meet our Russian partners who have come from afar on the Amur River.

Let the spark of the Russian Revolution begin to ignite in the Far East!"

Chapter 442: Navy Surrender

What about our navy?

Just when the frontline soldiers were confused, Yuan Shikai left Guangzhou and came to the Huangpu area dozens of miles away.

He went to Huangpu to find "our navy"

This is the anchorage of the remaining South China Sea Fleet, and it is also the place where Ding Ruchang has been staying since he fled from Guangzhou City after seeing Li Hongzhang's death.

Seeing the team carrying the "Grand President" banner approaching the dock, the ships of the South China Sea Fleet, which had originally aimed at the shore and were ready to fire at any time, chose to lower their guns.

In the blue sea, people from Anhui and Fujian gathered on the deck, looking at Yuan Xiangcheng who came in person, forming small groups and whispering.

Li Hongzhang dominated the South for several years and made some changes to the South China Sea Fleet, which was filled with Fujianese.