1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 11

But he just couldn't understand why the people he sent out to arrest in the morning were fine, but in the afternoon they suddenly became like they had taken some kind of super energy booster.

This time, Lu Zhaoxuan was also ordered to capture the wanted criminal Zhao Yan. He originally thought that capturing the man would be a great achievement, and he also wanted to meet this revolutionary who was famous in Jiangnan.

I just wanted to have some fun, but I ended up becoming the fun myself!

Lu Zhaoxuan immediately wet himself. How could he dare to interrogate Zhao Yan? He stood up and tried to slip away, but he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground, his official hat rolling around on the floor.

"Stop! Didn't you want to interrogate me?" Zhao Yan said anxiously. He just wanted the prefect to keep things in order and prevent it from turning into a riot, otherwise everyone would die.

If a revolution were to break out in a place like Changsha Prefecture, the surrounding New Army would swarm in and kill everyone in no time. At that point, neither the rebels nor the rebels would survive.

Especially for a leader like Zhao Yan, he would almost certainly die in the chaos of battle, without even the chance to be tried, let alone live a new life under an assumed name.

As soon as Zhao Yan uttered these words, his number one brute, Zhao Hao, immediately imagined that his boss was unleashing his power. He stepped forward, grabbed Lu Zhaoxuan by the collar, and was about to kill the official and rebel. He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"Stop!" Zhao Yan quickly intervened.

Ang Lee was furious: "Mr. Zhao, why are you doing this? We've come this far, why don't you just kill the officials and rebel?"

Zhao Yan steadied himself and quickly organized his thoughts: "This is not a rebellion, it's a revolution! Even the Manchus knew to interrogate me first when they captured me, so why can't we?"

And what if he interrogates me? We are righteous; revolutionaries fear no trial. We want a legitimate revolution, not mindless rebellion!

"Well said!" Just as Zhao Yan finished speaking, a strong voice rang out from the main gate of the prefectural government office.

Soon, hundreds of soldiers armed with rifles and dressed in new army uniforms surrounded the prefectural government office. Then, an old man in an official robe rode a horse directly to the gate.

If the prefectural government office caused such a commotion, it would be a joke if the higher-ranking governor was still unaware.

After Zhao Yan was arrested, the Hunan Provincial Governor's Office immediately received the news, and Prefect Lu Zhaoxuan even invited Governor Zhang Mingqi to come and interrogate him.

Zhang Mingqi was a formidable figure who had fought alongside Zeng Guofan on the battlefield and was once a valiant general in the Xiang Army. He would always bring several hundred personal guards with him when he went out.

He had barely arrived when he encountered this situation. Luckily, he had brought his troops with him, otherwise he wouldn't know how to handle the situation.

When Zhao Yan saw the governor and his hundreds of personal guards, he looked as if he had just escaped a disaster. Luckily, he hadn't lost his temper, otherwise he would have thought he could start an armed revolution with just 230 Green Standard Army soldiers and prison guards.

They wouldn't even need new troops from other places; the governor's few hundred personal guards alone could wipe them out.

Governor Zhang Mingqi dismounted and walked straight into the courtroom, followed by his personal guards.

The Green Standard Army soldiers and jailers of the revolutionaries, along with Zhao Hao and others, stood on the left, holding knives and guns, while the Qing soldiers of the governor were also lined up on the right. A Hanyang rifle was loaded and aimed at the revolutionaries opposite, waiting for the order to fire.

What is intriguing is the attitude of Governor Zhang Mingqi. After entering the courtroom, he merely glanced at Prefect Lu Zhaoxuan and then remained silent before taking the seat of the head of the courtroom.

"Bang!" Zhang Mingqi struck the gavel, expressing his meaning.

Zhao Yan immediately understood. The other party's meaning was simple: handle matters officially and don't make a big fuss, otherwise it wouldn't be good for anyone.

In Zhang Mingqi's eyes, Zhao Yan was just another revolutionary. Zhang Mingqi had long been aware of Zhao Yan's revolutionary ideas and public statements, and even admired him.

As for the fact that he's a wanted criminal and that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are furious, what does that have to do with him? The imperial court is the imperial court, and the local government is the local government!

Especially in the south, ever since the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China and the southeast declared mutual protection, the south and the imperial court had long been alienated from each other.

What does it matter to me if Zhao Yan rebels against your Qing Dynasty? The local powerful officials in the south are neutral towards the Restoration Party and Zhao Yan, and even hope that Zhao Yan will muddy the waters.

Because the imperial court is now single-mindedly focused on taking back the power of local powerful Han officials, and has even created a cabinet of imperial family members to seize power, the Han officials see this clearly and have become completely disillusioned with the Qing court.

After Zhao Yan was arrested, Governor Zhang Mingqi even blocked the news, neither reporting it to Beijing nor notifying any Manchu officials.

The reason they've brought so many personal guards is to secretly deal with Zhao Yan—not by killing him, but by quietly releasing him.

As for the intricacies behind this, it's very simple and can be summarized in four words: nurturing enemies to enhance one's own prestige!

Zhang Mingqi did not order the shooting, but instead chose to strike the gavel, which was a gesture of goodwill, indicating that he had no intention of killing him!

Chapter 19 Who is the official in the court, and why is he accusing this criminal?

At this moment, in this place, Zhao Yan stood facing off against Governor Zhang Mingqi, who sat high in the courtroom.

"Who are you here, and why are you here?" Zhang Mingqi asked knowingly, using official jargon, hoping Zhao Yan would evade the question himself.

As long as you make up any identity and say that you are innocent and that the revolutionaries have arrested the wrong person, Zhang Mingqi will release you immediately, and everyone will be happy.

But Zhao Yan glanced at the group of supporters behind him, their flames raging. He couldn't back down! If he admitted defeat and cried foul, these supporters would kill him the moment he turned around, because revolution cannot tolerate any cowards!

Besides, it's no use if you, Governor, release me. With these idiots haunting me like ghosts, something terrible is bound to happen.

Feudal bureaucrats who treat revolutionary armed forces with the old-fashioned idea of ​​"raising bandits to enhance their own power" are courting death. Revolutionary armed forces will not play games with you. They don't care who you are. They are ready to fight to the death if you disagree.

Left with no other choice, Zhao Yan had to start performing again.

"Who is this official in the court, and why are you accusing this criminal?" Zhao Yan raised his head high and asked arrogantly.

"Haha," Zhang Mingqi laughed in anger: "What a sharp-tongued bastard! How dare you talk nonsense in court? Do you really want to die?"

Zhao Yan unleashed his full power: "Haha, death is nothing, what do I, Zhao, have to fear?!"

Zhang Mingqi was furious: "I intend to show you leniency, don't be ungrateful!"

Zhao Yan decisively said, "No need! How can revolutionaries need a corrupt and incompetent bureaucratic government to bestow favors upon them? That's not favors, that's an insult!"

"What I need is dignity, fairness, and above all, freedom!"

Zhao Yan raised the shackles high, and his supporters behind him shouted. This was exactly what they wanted. If you dared to back down or take a step back, these supporters who had risked their lives to follow you would immediately kill you.

"So, you admit that you are a wanted criminal, a traitor, a revolutionary, Zhao Yan?" Zhang Mingqi stared intently at Zhao Yan, trying to discern whether Zhao Yan was merely putting on an act or was truly so fierce and fearless.

Zhao Yan raised his head, trying to straighten up, but the heavy shackles aggravated his wounds, causing him to look pained.

The clerk, still shaken, immediately brought over a chair and placed it behind Zhao Yan. Zhang Mingqi was completely dumbfounded by this scene. Which side was this clerk on? When did it become a rule that prisoners have seats when they are on trial in court?

Zhao Yan didn't sit down, but instead stood up straight, holding onto the back of the chair, and looked at Zhang Mingqi with a smile.

"I am the very traitor and wanted criminal you speak of, the revolutionary: Zhao Yan!"

He's gone mad! He's insane! This guy is crazy! Zhang Mingqi had only one thought in his mind: to admit it like this in this situation, he probably doesn't want to live anymore.

But Zhang Mingqi had to admit that he had developed a deep admiration and appreciation for Zhao Yan, who perfectly matched his image of a revolutionary.

Zhang Mingqi sighed and said, "You're still young, why are you so determined to die?"

Zhao Yan's face showed a hint of disdain: "Although I may die, I am still young. You chose to grovel at the feet of the Manchus and live a life of ignominy, but you are already old and rotten!"

"The tide of the times is rolling in, those who follow it prosper and those who resist perish. Today, all the world's great powers have become strong through revolution and reform, while China has remained stagnant and closed off, and has been bullied by the world!"

Lies don't hurt, but the truth is the sharpest weapon. The words Zhao Yan spoke were the naked truth.

Looking at the young Zhao Yan, Zhang Mingqi felt a pang of pity: "National affairs are not as simple as you young people think!"

Zhao Yan laughed loudly, "Haha, national affairs? May I ask which national affair you are referring to, Lord Zhang?"

"Was it the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War? Was it the Empress Dowager misappropriating military funds to build her garden? Was it the Eight-Nation Alliance reaching Beijing? Was it the 400 million taels of silver indemnity? Or was it simply watching the Japanese and Russian armies fight and slaughter our Chinese compatriots in Northeast China while the court did not lift a single soldier?"

"Lord Zhang, is this what you call national affairs? Is this what you call the imperial court? They sit high in the court, completely disregarding the lives of us common people."

You say we think it's simple, but it really is simple. Everyone knows it's wrong, and everyone understands that continuing like this will lead to the destruction of the country and the extinction of the race.

But not one of you stood up; you only knew how to watch, not how to do, always thinking you could take it slow.

"But tell me, how much time do we have left to take things slowly? You think governing a large country is as easy as cooking a small fish, but I think treating a serious illness requires strong medicine!"

"You officials of the court, you who live off the people's hard-earned money! You can sit in the court and wait!"

"But what about them? Ah!"

Zhao Yan pointed to his supporters behind him and shouted, "Farmers who toil from dawn till dusk all year round can never eat a bowl of white rice until they die!"

There are also the children who starved to death, the babies who were thrown into the river and drowned, the people who knew they were sick but had no money to seek medical treatment and could only die from their illness, and the people who paid exorbitant taxes and levies and ended up with no grain of rice in their granaries and no money in their pockets and could only beg and wander.

Can they keep waiting? If simply waiting would bring national prosperity and strength, do you think that's realistic?

Zhang Mingqi was speechless. He even reflected on his own actions, thinking, "Yes, this year's major events have all disgraced our ancestors."

If we proceed slowly and deliberately, at the current pace, who knows, in one or two decades, the country might be almost completely ceded away!

But in this courtroom, under the watchful eyes and ears of everyone, Zhang Mingqi simply couldn't agree with Zhao Yan's statement.

Taking a breather, Zhang Mingqi earnestly said, "Young man, the imperial court has it tough too!"

Upon hearing this, without Zhao Yan needing to refute, Li An, Yang Dingtian, Liu Gensheng, Zhao Hao, and others all spoke up.

"The imperial court? Not easy? Are you saying that the Empress Dowager eats more than a hundred dishes at a time, each meal costing several hundred taels of silver, and that she can't finish them all and it's too tiring for one person?"

"Not easy? The Summer Palace, built with tens of millions of taels of silver and covering thousands of acres, must have been exhausting for those empress dowagers and emperors to manage."

"And there's an annual income of 200 million taels of silver. I bet the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's hands are cramping from counting it all, right?"

Zhang Mingqi angrily retorted: "Nonsense, utter nonsense!"

These unruly commoners have no idea what they're talking about and are just making wild guesses. Governors and viceroys can easily spend hundreds of taels of silver on a single meal. The Empress Dowager, let alone a meal, even a dessert costs hundreds of taels of silver. And the eggs in the imperial kitchen cost five taels of silver each!

And what do you mean the Summer Palace covers thousands of acres? Are you kidding me? A thousand acres is just a pond inside!

Zhang Mingqi was a worldly man; he wouldn't stoop to the level of these cattle and horses, speculating whether the emperor used a golden hoe to till the land.

Zhao Yan continued, "People like us can't even imagine how extravagant those princes and nobles were, but we are also human beings, we have flesh and blood, and each of us has a family to support."

Do we, the common people, not have the right to live? Are we destined to starve, die of disease, or work ourselves to death, giving up everything we have, burning everything away, just for a meal for the Empress Dowager, a pillar in the Summer Palace, or a tile on the roof of the Forbidden City?

Lord Zhang, wake up! What is there to be loyal to in such a court?

What use is a court that says, "I'd rather give to friendly nations than to my own slaves, and use all of China's resources to win the favor of friendly nations"?

The court you serve has never treated you as a human being; you are merely their slave, no different from a sheep in a sheepfold or a pig in a pigsty!

Looking at Zhao Yan's hysterical expression, feeling the fervor in his words, and the unstoppable domineering manner, Zhang Mingqi realized that even this governor was now deeply doubting himself.

Yes, is such a court worthy of loyalty? Does such a regime still have any meaning in continuing to exist?

They regard themselves as slaves, like pigs and dogs, yet they regard them as their sovereigns and fathers. Such loyalty is far too despicable.

Even those illiterate commoners have begun to take up arms and resist, while I, who am well-read and have fought many battles, do not have the courage to stand up and defend my dignity. What is going on?

Zhang Mingqi looked at the upright Green Standard Army soldiers and prison guards with complicated expressions, then at his personal guards who were gradually wavering and even lowering their gun barrels several inches.

He knew he had lost this trial; now Zhao Yan was judging him.

The personal guards he brought with him were the best proof, because everything Zhao Yan said was true, the truth, and the personal experience of everyone present!

Zhang Mingqi forced himself to say, "Zhao Yan, I'll ask you one more time, what do you want in return? I don't want to kill you, and I can't kill you, but don't force me!"

Zhao Yan leaned on the chair, his wound reopening from the intense movements of his speech, blood slowly dripping down his arm and soaking the floor.

"Give up? Lord Zhang, please open your eyes and take a look! Is this a matter for me alone? Is it something that can be resolved simply by giving up?"

"I have never laid a hand on them, nor have we ever caused any trouble or made trouble for no reason!"

"We just want things to be the way they should be, and for everyone to get what they deserve, that's all!"

Chapter 20 The Debate of the Century

Inside the prefectural government office, both inside the courtroom and in the surrounding courtyard, hundreds of people were gathered in an eerie atmosphere.

Most of Zhang Mingqi's personal guards were now unable to pick up their guns, because Zhao Yan had revealed the stark truth, leaving their governor speechless.

Amidst the turmoil in the army, Zhang Mingqi felt that he had really gotten himself into trouble today. Now it was no longer a matter of trying a wanted criminal traitor, but rather how Zhang Mingqi himself could extricate himself from the situation.

"Bang!" Zhang Mingqi struck the gavel again, then spread his hands and pleaded, "Zhao Yan, what exactly do you want today? Do you really want to start an uprising in Hunan and see the people of Hunan and Hubei suffer?"

Zhao Yan felt even more aggrieved than Zhang Mingqi. "Who told you to hunt me down like this? I was just trying to survive. In this situation, can I even take a step back?"

Zhao Yan resolutely replied, "Lord Zhang asked me what I want to do, and it's very simple!"

"Today in this courtroom, in front of everyone, I want you to judge me! To see if I am a traitor, or if you are all traitors to the country!"

"Truth cannot be clarified without debate. I, Zhao Yan, disdain using swords and spears to prove revolution. I will convince your Qing court until you are convinced. I will prove that revolutionaries are not merely armed and violent, nor are they rebels, but rather the arrival of justice!"

"If the Manchus want my life, I will destroy their very heart!"

"Come on, you lackeys of the Manchu Qing dynasty, come and interrogate me!"

Prefect Lu Zhaoxuan immediately stepped forward, waving his hands frantically: "Mr. Zhao, you've misunderstood! The Qing Dynasty is the Qing Dynasty, and we local officials are local officials!"

"The Manchus want your lives, so why are you trying to destroy our spirits? Let's keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other, shall we? Consider this an invitation from the prefectural government to be our guest. We'll treat you to good food and drink, and once you've recovered from your injuries, you can go back to what you were doing."

"If all else fails, I can help contact some wealthy individuals to raise some travel expenses for your party!"

Zhang Mingqi didn't object to these words and simply agreed, saying, "Just stop causing trouble for us."

Zhao Yan was also tempted. They were rich and provided with good food and drink!

But troublemakers arrived immediately, and Zhao Hao stepped forward: "President, these corrupt officials are insulting our revolutionary party! They are insulting us!"

"These corrupt Qing officials actually tried to bribe us with money that rightfully belonged to us. What kind of logic is that!"

Ang Lee also raised his arms and shouted: "Mr. Zhao, don't believe them. This is just a delaying tactic. These government officials and scholars are utterly wicked!"