German Red Prince

Page 118

"Because China was in a state of warlordism for a period of time in the past, coupled with its underdeveloped industry, most of its weapons were purchased from foreign countries. This has resulted in our army having a variety of weapons, and bullets and other supplies that are not fully compatible, which has made logistics a mess."

"Mr. Michael, the National Revolutionary Army is currently undergoing a new round of reorganization and receiving new training to improve its combat quality and battlefield adaptability. The new army certainly cannot use the previous mixed-use weapons from all over the world, so our government needs a standard rifle to be widely equipped to all troops."

“Of course, how can a government not have a standard weapon issued to its soldiers?” Michael smiled. “This time we also brought specific blueprints to help the Nationalist government develop the latest rifle.”

"Great! With your help, we should be able to see the finished product very soon."

After receiving a positive response from the German advisory group, Li Chengan felt much better. With their involvement, he was certain that his progress would be much faster.

Chapter 204 The Next Step in the Revolution

"Zhou Shichang, you are in charge of security and inspection in this area. Work well with the garrison troops. There can't be any accidents today, understand?"

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems. The brothers are all keeping an eye on things," Zhou Shichang assured. "The area has been under surveillance for several weeks now, and key areas have been checked. There will definitely be no security issues for this meeting."

"That's good. This meeting is different from the previous ones. This meeting is very important, so we must ensure safety." Deng Shizeng sighed and said with concern.

"We must keep a close eye on them and take control of any suspicious individuals immediately. Our government cannot afford a second incident."

"Chief, don't worry. After the last incident, all those guys in the police station have been arrested. There won't be any problems this time. We've been keeping an eye on the key areas."

"Then I'll have to trouble you. You must stay alert and make sure nothing else goes wrong."

"Absolutely, I guarantee there won't be any problems." Zhou Shichang saluted. "Director, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now?"

"Go ahead, but make sure you keep a close eye on things," Deng Shizeng said, adding a few more words of advice as he remained concerned.

The last disturbance in Guangzhou had a terrible impact. It's hard to imagine what the consequences would have been if that incident had succeeded. At that time, the revolutionary government had just defeated Sun Chuanfang not long ago, the political situation was not yet stable, and there were still many opposition groups lurking in the country. If it had succeeded, who knows how many monsters and demons would have emerged.

After the incident was swiftly quelled, the Provisional Central Committee quickly dispatched five divisions to completely surround Guangzhou. After Wu Tiecheng, the former head of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, was dealt with, in order to prevent the impact from expanding further, Deng Shizeng, the chief of staff of the Fourth Army, took over the position of head of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau and was responsible for the martial law work in Guangzhou.

After navigating the most difficult weeks, the central government returned to normal, and the provisional central committee elected representatives to lead the government's work going forward.

The interim committee that was in charge at the time was now due for readjustment. General Secretary Xu Chongzhi stepped down due to health reasons, and after a joint vote by the Central Committee, Mao Zedong, the former Standing Committee member of the Central Executive Committee, took over as General Secretary.

Deng Shizeng could speculate on the things involved. He was only worried about one thing: the change of the party affiliation of the General Committee would inevitably cause some people to have some ulterior motives. As the garrison commander and public security chief of Guangzhou, he certainly could not allow any more trouble to occur.

It's still raining in Guangzhou today. The last government meeting was because of the assassination attempt on Liao Zhongkai, and this time it's about the change of leadership. With the bad memory of the last meeting and the rainy weather, the party and government representatives attending the meeting have mixed feelings.

The Nationalist government cannot afford a second period of turmoil. What will this meeting be like? Will the outcome be positive or negative?

There was no sun in Guangzhou today; it didn't feel like daytime at all. There were very few people on the streets. The rain was hitting the windows with a rhythmic sound, and the wind was blowing in gusts if it got a bit stronger.

Mao Zedong lit a cigarette, looked out the window at the heavy rain with a serious expression, and suddenly remembered an experience he had more than ten years ago.

Back then, he was just a young lad who had only just come into contact with Marxism. He remembered very clearly that he went to the library to borrow books that day. It was raining heavily, and he didn't want the books to get dirty, so he wrapped them in his raincoat and ran back.

The road wasn't wide, but there were quite a few people: cars parked on the side of the road, vendors pulling carts, soldiers riding tall horses, homeless people lying on the road begging for food, and children with straw markers stuck in their ears.

He didn't know what was so special about that day, or why he could still recall it so clearly. But from that moment on, he had an idea: China's path should be widened, it should be a major road, there should be fewer poor people, fewer people selling their children, and ideally none at all.

At the time, he only had this idea. More than ten years later, he now has the ability to turn this idea into reality. China should have a future; it cannot continue like this forever.

Representatives from various regions should have arrived by now. The question of where the Chinese revolution should go from here, and what the next steps and future development of the Nationalist government should be, are all issues that need to be addressed first. Only by resolving these issues and having a direction can their government continue to develop.

Looking at the cigarette box in his hand, Mao Zedong liked the bright red exterior very much. It was a gift brought by the delegation from the Kingdom of the Rhine when they came. They gave Mao Zedong three cartons of cigarettes. The bright red cigarette pack had Tiananmen Square in Beijing printed on it, along with two gilded characters: "Zhonghua" (中华).

A prosperous and thriving China—perhaps soon, his past aspirations will become reality, a brand new China will rise from the ground, every household will prosper, and the Chinese people will be able to hold their heads high. What a magnificent China!

Unrestricted political infighting has severely depleted the government's resources, and the differences and rifts between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are further fracturing the already fragile government, which spends a great deal of time dealing with its own affairs each time.

The government had almost no time to deal with the next steps of the revolution, and the Northern Expedition was also delayed. After the Yangtze River Incident, the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition came to a halt. Although the culprit, Chiang Kai-shek, had been bombed and disappeared by the Germans, the Nationalist government still had to clean up his mess.

The fighting in the southwest and northwest continued, but the Nationalist government could not carry out the next Northern Expedition. The Yangtze River was blockaded by the German fleet, and the eight southern provinces had been lost. The Qing Dynasty in the north became the only German power in China. The Qing Dynasty had to face threats from both Fengtian in the north and the Nationalist government in the south.

The Germans were well aware of the predicament of the Qing Dynasty, which was beset on two fronts, and their aid to the Qing Dynasty only increased. The Nationalist government and the Qing Dynasty had heavy troops stationed along their long borders, and with German assistance, the Qing Dynasty's industrial capacity was clearly stronger.

Because of the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, although Chen Diaoyuan, the military governor of Anhui, nominally accepted the jurisdiction of the Nationalist government, the Nationalist government could not govern the area north of the Yangtze River. The military governor of Jiangsu died in the chaos of war, so Chen Diaoyuan naturally took over his territory, occupying the areas north of the Yangtze River in Anhui and Jiangsu, and becoming a local tyrant.

Chen Diaoyuan is now clearly betting on two sides. Although he is cooperating well with the Nationalist government, he is also flirting with the Germans. He can be the vanguard of the Nationalist government's Northern Expedition, or he can become a quick knife in the hands of the Qing government.

In short, the revolutionary situation was very complex and the revolutionary tasks were very arduous. After finishing a cigarette, Mao Zedong also went downstairs. Everyone had arrived, and it was time for him to give a report for this meeting.

Chapter 205 The Issue of Establishing Historical Status

Tsai Ho-si quietly folded up her umbrella and walked into the venue. Looking at the Kuomintang representatives who were also silently entering the venue, she could not discern any expression on their faces, neither happy nor angry.

As one of the Kuomintang representatives from Jiangxi Province, Cai Hesi also looked the same. He sighed and silently entered the hall. They were still damp from the rain outside, which made them look uncomfortable in the brightly lit hall. Their mood seemed to still be in the rainstorm outside.

In stark contrast to the Kuomintang representatives, the Communist Party representatives from various regions entered the venue in high spirits. Before the meeting even began, the representatives gathered in small groups, chatting amongst themselves.

Cai Hesi wasn't in the mood. After sitting down, he stopped talking. He remembered the First National Congress of the Kuomintang. At that time, the Kuomintang was at its zenith. Under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, it formulated a series of related policies and also established a good cooperative relationship with the French Commune.

After Sun Yat-sen's death, under the leadership of Liao Zhongkai, the Kuomintang still achieved remarkable results. During the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang, the Northern Expedition had achieved considerable success, and the victory of the national revolution seemed to be just around the corner.

During the first two national congresses, Cai Hesi, as a member of the Kuomintang, felt extremely honored and proud because they were leading a revolution that would go down in history. But who could have imagined that such a huge mess would happen in their own country?

Cai Hesi didn't have any feelings towards the Communist Party. They had fought alongside him in the National Revolution and could be considered comrades-in-arms. When Cai Hesi was organizing work on the front lines, he had many Communist Party comrades around him, and there were no problems in cooperating with them.

Although Cai Hesi had no ulterior motives towards the Communist Party, she still felt somewhat awkward now that the Party had taken power and couldn't adapt to it for a while.

He acknowledged the Communist Party's outstanding contributions in the Northern Expedition, noting that they fought alone on the western front, buying much time for the National Revolutionary Army. However, he felt it was strange that the Communists had suddenly gained the upper hand over the Kuomintang.

After all, during the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Kuomintang had always been the elder brother figure, while the Communist Party had only been established for a short time. Now, the younger brother they had brought had suddenly become their elder brother, which caused Cai Hesi and the other Kuomintang members to feel a sense of loss. To put it bluntly, they felt that this was a bit embarrassing.

Just as Cai Hesi was lost in thought, a Kuomintang representative from Fujian Province sat down next to him and sighed, "The tables have turned. Now it's their turn to listen to others' lectures. I wonder if he'll even need to come to the Third National Congress next year."

Listening to the lament of the representative next to him, Cai Hesi felt even more dejected. Although the two parties had united to carry out the revolution, the Kuomintang had indeed made quite a few underhanded moves back then, especially some right-wing elements within the Kuomintang. During the Guangzhou Incident, they killed so many important figures. If they held a grudge like that, he might really not need to come next year.

General Committee members Sun Yat-sen and Liao Zhongkai were present, and this meeting was convened by General Committee member Mao Zedong. The First and Second National Congresses of the Kuomintang were both very successful, and the two meetings successfully analyzed various problems of the Chinese revolution.

The first two congresses were hosted by the Kuomintang and were very unsuccessful. This meeting was hosted by the Communist Party, who wanted to see if this young party, which had been established for less than seven years, was qualified to lead the National Government to continue the revolutionary tasks.

If this meeting is still very successful, then the Communist Party leadership will accept it. But if most Kuomintang members do not approve of this meeting, it will inevitably cause a split within the government, and such a split will be difficult to bridge in a short period of time.

At the start of the meeting, Chairman Mao's first report surprised all the Kuomintang representatives present.

His first report was unlike any other; Chairman Mao's first report was about establishing Sun Yat-sen's historical status.

Chairman Mao's first report at the conference was titled "A Report on the Correct Evaluation of Mr. Sun Yat-sen's Merits and Demerits, and His Historical and Political Status."

Although Sun Yat-sen was the founder of the Kuomintang, there was no evaluation of his historical status within the Nationalist government. The Kuomintang only referred to him as "the late Premier," and the evaluation was vague.

Establishing Sun Yat-sen's historical status was crucial to the Chinese revolution, as it directly relates to the overall purpose of the Nationalist government's revolution.

All policies of the current Nationalist government are based on the legacy of the "late Premier," establishing Sun Yat-sen's historical status and distinguishing the Nationalist government from the two regimes in the north. This is tantamount to establishing the "legitimacy" of the Nationalist government.

“Mr. Sun Yat-sen was a very important figure in Chinese history. He made tremendous contributions to the Chinese revolutionary cause.”

Listening to Chairman Mao's report, many Kuomintang representatives present nodded in agreement, and their mood eased considerably. Affirming Sun Yat-sen's historical status was, in effect, an affirmation of the Kuomintang's contributions. This shows that Chairman Mao was quite "moderate" in handling relations between the two parties.

"In terms of Mr. Sun Yat-sen's contributions to the Chinese revolution, he was one of the founders and leaders of the Chinese democratic revolution. Throughout the course of the Chinese revolution, Mr. Sun Yat-sen always upheld the concept of 'the world belongs to all' and devoted himself to the task of overthrowing autocratic rule and establishing a democratic republic."

"Looking at the whole of East Asia, Mr. Sun Yat-sen clearly expressed his opposition to foreign aggression and colonial rule and advocated fighting against imperialism. He advocated that Asian countries should unite to deal with the Western powers. He was also a pioneer of Asian revolution."

"Of course, no one is perfect. Mr. Sun Yat-sen also made mistakes and acted naively in the process of leading the Chinese revolution. This is something we must face squarely. However, we cannot deny Mr. Sun Yat-sen's contributions entirely because of these mistakes."

When Chairman Mao said these words, many Kuomintang representatives applauded. Chairman Mao's evaluation was already very objective and fair.

Sun Yat-sen did have some shortcomings in leading the revolution. For example, there was the problem with the Kuomintang party. The party did not have a complete and standardized program. It only had a rudimentary theory of the "Three Principles of the People". Later, it became somewhat like Sun Yat-sen's personal clique, and he himself was the party's program and discipline.

Of course, the party could still function with its prestige while Sun Yat-sen was alive, but after his death, without the constraints of party rules and discipline, the internal divisions within the Kuomintang became obvious to everyone.

Another issue is the incompleteness of the revolution. In the early stages of the revolution, Sun Yat-sen always placed his hopes on other warlords and was very compromising.

Although Sun Yat-sen advocated "the world belongs to all," he was still influenced by conservative ideas and was not resolute enough in dealing with the issues of feudal society and the peasant class. This resulted in low enthusiasm among the peasants during the National Revolution, and many opportunists also infiltrated the revolutionary ranks.

This situation only improved after Chairman Mao came to power and implemented a resolute land policy, which stabilized the most basic foundation of the Nationalist government.

"Mr. Sun Yat-sen had some problems and shortcomings, and made some mistakes in the process of revolution, but it is undeniable that he played a crucial role in China's democratic revolution, national independence and modernization process."

"Mr. Sun Yat-sen's contributions to the Chinese revolution should be fully affirmed; he is truly worthy of being called the pioneer of the Chinese democratic revolution!"

Chapter 206 Revolution Must Proceed in Two Steps

Before Chairman Mao finished his report, thunderous applause erupted from below. The fact that Chairman Mao correctly established Sun Yat-sen's historical status, and at least did not deny the Kuomintang's contributions to the Chinese revolution, made the Kuomintang representatives feel relatively comfortable.

As the first report began, the atmosphere in the meeting room improved significantly, and the Kuomintang representatives looked much better. After this report, Chairman Mao began to address the main topic of the meeting: the revolutionary path of the Nationalist government and the revolutionary tasks to be accomplished next.

"Our revolution should enter a completely new phase. What does that mean? The form of the revolution is changing, and our revolution should move towards a new path."

"Our democratic revolution began in 1840. It included peasant resistance revolutions, landlord self-salvation revolutions, and bourgeois reformist reform revolutions. All sorts of revolutions ended in failure."

"These democratic revolutions are all in the past, so let's call them the old democratic revolutions for now. The Nationalist government's power is gradually stabilizing, and a series of movements such as land reform are proceeding in an orderly manner. We are also putting into practice the ideological program of Mr. Sun Yat-sen's New Three Principles of the People."

"However, this is clearly not the end of the revolution. Our revolution is now reaching a new turning point. Unlike the old democratic revolution, our government needs to carry out a new democratic revolution next."

"Sun Yat-sen's three major policies—alliance with the French, alliance with the Communists, and support for workers and peasants—reflected his wish to build a nation supported and participated in by the people. The power of the broad masses of people is inexhaustible. Uniting the peasantry and the working class is the right path! The second stage of the Three Principles of the People is socialism!"

"Why was our campaign against Sun Chuanfang so successful? Why were we able to wipe out Sun Chuanfang's hundreds of thousands of troops in just a few years? It's because we had the support of hundreds of millions of people, hundreds of millions of peasants and workers!"

"The failures of Mr. Sun Yat-sen in the early stages of the revolution also proved that although the elite class may seem powerful, it is still very weak among hundreds of millions of people. A revolution cannot rely solely on the elite class, otherwise it will become a revolution of a minority, which is extremely unstable. In the end, it will just be a change of name without substance, and it may just be a change of people to continue the oppression."

"I know that everyone here has revolutionary passion in their hearts. The goals of our two parties are the same, which is to carry out a thorough democratic revolution. What is the purpose of our revolution? It is to enable the oppressed majority to stand up and become masters of their own destiny. And which class in China is most oppressed? It is the proletariat. The purpose of our revolution is to enable the vast proletariat to stand up and become masters of their own destiny!"

"Why is New Democracy new? It is because it aims to liberate the proletariat itself, to overthrow the oppression of imperialism and feudalism in politics, to confiscate the large capital that controls the national economy and people's livelihood in the economy, to establish a state-owned economy, to confiscate the landlords' land and give it to the peasants, to allow a certain degree of development of national capitalist economy in the economy, and to abolish feudal comprador culture in the culture, and to develop national and scientific popular culture!"

"Comrades, we must firmly grasp this general line of New Democracy, a revolution led by the proletariat to liberate itself, by the masses of the people, and against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism."

"As I said, this is a revolution of the majority, not a revolution of self-indulgence by a minority. That is to say, our revolution is a unified and broad front, and the united front composed of the people who participate in this revolution is very broad."

"This includes workers, peasants, independent laborers, freelancers, intellectuals, the national bourgeoisie, and a segment of enlightened gentry who split off from the landlord class; this is what we call the masses of the people."

"The government established by the masses of the people is a democratic coalition government of the alliance of democratic classes led by the proletariat."

"The enemies that this revolution seeks to overthrow are imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. The most prominent manifestation of these enemies is the reactionary rule of the Qing government and the Fengtian government!"

"Judging from the struggles of various countries today, a country that achieves freedom and equality will eventually move towards socialism, just like the French Commune and the British Union in Europe. They all overthrew the reactionary governments of the minority and achieved the rule of the majority. This is also our general goal at this stage."

"But our revolution cannot be rushed. It must be based on China's actual conditions. We cannot expect to achieve everything in one step. Our revolution must proceed in two steps. The first step is to carry out the New Democratic Revolution, and the second step is to carry out the Socialist Revolution."

"Our first step is to establish a new China that combines a new democratic political system, a new democratic economic system, and a new democratic culture. The second step is to build a socialist and even a communist society."

"In the stage of the New Democratic Revolution, we must establish a New Democratic society under the joint dictatorship of all revolutionary classes in China, led by the proletariat, and the ultimate future is socialism and communism!"

Chairman Mao not only delivered a summary report on the revolution, but also pointed out the next steps and policies. His report was highly scientific and comprehensive, which impressed the Kuomintang representatives present. This new General Secretary was indeed very capable.

Following the Guangzhou Incident and the subsequent government rectification campaign, the Kuomintang had already undergone several rounds of reshuffling. The right wing of the Kuomintang had been suppressed to the point of being unable to raise its head, and several key supporters had been expelled from the party, rendering the right wing's influence negligible.

Most of the radical left wing in the Kuomintang (KMT) has moved in the direction of the Communist Party. It can be said that the left wing forces in the KMT have been completely won over by the Communist Party. They share the same views as the Communist Party and hope for a more radical change.

The number of Kuomintang (KMT) members in name only has decreased significantly, and only centrists remain within the party. The reason why they looked so complicated when attending the meeting is because Xu Chongzhi, the representative of the centrists and a member of the General Committee of the National Government, has stepped down. Xu Chongzhi's resignation is a huge blow to the KMT, because it is very likely that the KMT will soon exit the stage of history.

However, Chairman Mao's speech also made these Kuomintang representatives relax a little. In Chairman Mao's words, the current revolution is a unified and broad front, which means that the Kuomintang is still on this front.

With the support of the Comintern and the Communist Party's armed forces and manpower, its long-term rule is a foregone conclusion, and they have accepted this fate.

All the Kuomintang representatives are asking for now is to retain a voice in the government, as they have contributed to the revolution and should not disappear completely.

Chapter 107 The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

"Our revolution must never be a revolution of a minority, nor a dictatorial revolution of any party or individual."

"What does this mean? It means that our next revolution will be a revolution led by the proletariat for the benefit of the broad masses of patriotic people."

"I'm sure some comrades will disagree with what I'm saying, arguing that the leadership of the proletariat is simply the Communist Party's revolution, so what's the point of having other classes or parties?"

"In future revolutions, as long as it's the Communist Party, it will solve all the problems. We don't need any other parties. Shouldn't they pack up and prepare to go home?"

"I know that some comrades have their own thoughts and concerns about this change of leadership in the Nationalist government. Before the meeting, someone told me not to discuss these issues at the meeting, as if I were being hypocritical after getting a good deal. Indeed, it seems like I did get a good deal."

"The representatives present here are all elites and talents within the Party. Some have returned from studying abroad, while others have graduated from universities in Beijing and Guangzhou. Any one of them is far more capable than me, Mao Zedong."

"I came from a remote mountain school and spent many years struggling in the countryside. Now I can stand here and give a report to everyone. Isn't that a huge advantage? If I were sitting in the audience listening to someone like this give a report, I would have cursed him out long ago. Get lost! A country bumpkin like you dares to ask us to do things?"

Chairman Mao's words enlivened the atmosphere considerably, and many committee members below the stage laughed. What Mao said actually reflected the thoughts of some people. They accepted the fact that the Communist Party was in power, but they found it hard to accept that the person leading the government was a teacher training student from a small place in Hunan.

Among the members of the revolutionary government, Sun Yat-sen had studied abroad, having studied in Hong Kong. Liao Zhongkai, needless to say, had studied at Waseda University, a prestigious university in Japan. The previous general committee member, Xu Chongzhi, although not very prominent, had at least studied at the Japanese Army Academy.

But when this generation of the Communist Party came to power, Mao Zedong, who served as the General Committee member, came from an obscure little place.

Such a background seemed rather low among the elite ranks of the Nationalist government, making some people feel embarrassed. After all, which country's government leaders aren't among the elite? They were afraid of being looked down upon when they visited other countries in the future.

If the Communist Party were to come to power, it would not be unacceptable for them to lead the Nationalist government, given that the Communist Party itself is not lacking in elite talents who have studied abroad or graduated from prestigious universities.

But the person who came up was an "old farmer." Was this a mockery of the Kuomintang for having no one in power, and that even a "peasant" in the Communist Party was better than them?

"Comrades, what I want to say is that the very fact that I, Mao Zedong, am standing here proves the correctness and success of the Three Principles of the People!"

"Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People—nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood—are now being spoken to me by a peasant like myself. The fact that I am qualified to speak here and not be driven away, and that everyone is patiently listening to my report, proves the victory of the Three Principles of the People, doesn't it?"