The Yuewang [King Yue] Society was a revolutionary group in Anhui in the late Qing Dynasty, and also the first bourgeois revolutionary organization in modern Anhui. It was named "Yuewang Society" because it admired the national hero Yue Fei's spirit of serving the country with supreme loyalty. In July or August of the 31st year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1905), Anhui's first bourgeois revolutionary organization—the Yuewang Society—was established. Its address was located at Anhui Public School in Wuhu. It was formed by Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei uniting advanced elements among students such as Chang Hengfang, Song Shaoxia, and Yang Duanfu. Chen Duxiu was the president. The Yuewang Society was a bourgeois revolutionary organization founded even earlier than the Tongmenghui.

The Water Detachment of the Worker-Peasant Revolutionary Army specially sent two fast boats to escort Yan Fu to Wuhu. The small fleet traveled day and night, and being familiar with the water route, they actually arrived in Wuhu in only three days. Yan Fu had been the principal of Wanjiang Middle School in 1905. Anhui Public School was a sister school of Wanjiang Middle School; teachers of the schools taught interchangeably, so the gatekeeper was naturally very familiar with Yan Fu. Seeing Yan Fu arrive at the door, he hurried up to welcome him. "Mr. Yan, haven't seen you for a long time."

Yan Fu went straight to the subject. "Are Mr. Chen and Mr. Bai here?"

"Mr. Yan, both Mr. Chen and Mr. Bai are here. Even Mr. Tao has come these past few days."

Mr. Tao referred to Tao Chengzhang. As a celebrity in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Tao Chengzhang had also lectured at Anhui Public School and Wanjiang Middle School. Yan Fu had always known Tao Chengzhang's political views, and learned about Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin's status in the Guangfuhui from Chen Ke, so he knew perfectly well why Tao Chengzhang appeared at Anhui Public School.

"Lead the way," Yan Fu said to the gatekeeper.

Chen Duxiu, Bai Wenwei, and Tao Chengzhang were all startled after hearing the news reported by the gatekeeper outside that Yan Fu had come. They didn't expect Yan Fu to come to visit. The three who were in a secret discussion hurried to open the door and welcome him. These people were relatively familiar with each other. After Yan Fu and the gatekeeper left [Note: Gatekeeper likely left, Yan Fu entered], the three invited Yan Fu into the room with somewhat bewildered expressions. Yan Fu was not polite either and entered the room first. The three checked that no one was paying attention around, and then followed in. Tao Chengzhang walked last; he carefully observed that no one around was paying attention before bolting the door.

Seeing there was no one else, Yan Fu raised his hand to stop Chen Duxiu's polite words. "Since Huanqing [Tao Chengzhang] is also here, it saves me a lot of trouble. Huanqing, did Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin tell you that my student Chen Ke is going to attack Anqing?"

Tao Chengzhang had already told Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei the intelligence. These two knew that Yan Fu had always opposed violent revolution, so such a sudden change made them feel it might not be credible. Hearing these words from Yan Fu, joy appeared on the faces of Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei. Chen Duxiu said urgently: "Mr. Yan, I originally wanted to go to Fengtai County to find you. If you came two days later, I would have set off. Exactly how many troops does your student Chen Ke have to actually want to attack Anqing?"

Yan Fu didn't want to hide it from these three revolutionary leaders either. He roughly introduced Chen Ke's strength in Fengtai County. Hearing that Chen Ke actually had ten thousand troops and even conquered Fengyang Prefecture, the three were greatly surprised amidst their joy. If someone else had come to say this, these three would probably not believe it. Yan Fu had always had a distinguished reputation and was by no means a person who deceived others with big words. Hearing Yan Fu introduce the situation personally, the three had to believe it.

Bai Wenwei was a revolutionary activist of the Yuewang Society. Seeing that the revolution actually had hope like this, his eyes were already filled with tears of excitement, and he said repeatedly: "There is hope for the revolution, there is hope for the revolution." And Chen Duxiu and Tao Chengzhang were also overjoyed.

Yan Fu maintained his usual serious expression, acting completely blind to the excited expressions of the three people in front of him. He continued: "I came this time to be a lobbyist. The Yuewang Society has considerable influence in the New Army. I hope the Yuewang Society can lobby the New Army to act as an insider. Our People's Party's goal is only to take down the Anhui Governor's Yamen. After taking Anqing, we want to take away officials like En Ming. The troops of the People's Party will withdraw back to Fengyang Prefecture immediately. We will absolutely not break our promise."

Tao Chengzhang had told Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei about this condition promised by Chen Ke. When the three discussed it, they felt that Chen Ke didn't want troops to help, didn't want grain and pay support, and didn't even want to occupy Anqing to appeal to the world. They all felt there must be some big trap in this. Hearing that the request Yan Fu mentioned was just to let the Yuewang Society members in the New Army act as insiders when the People's Party attacked Anqing, it was also a very low requirement. They were afraid they misunderstood, so Bai Wenwei asked closely: "Mr. Yan, we can at most open the city gate secretly, or give up a section of the city wall slightly when the People's Party army attacks Anqing. If you expect us to do more, we can't do it either."

"This is enough." Yan Fu didn't expect them to be able to do more originally. "We need to discuss a sign. When our army enters the city, it would be best if everyone doesn't accidentally injure each other."

"Mr. Yan, we only need to let the People's Party army into the city, and we don't need to do anything else? Even so, there are still thousands of New Army soldiers in Anqing City." Bai Wenwei still couldn't quite believe there was such a good thing.

"This is already doing us a big favor. If we blindly attack the city from below, how many troops would we lose?" Yan Fu didn't want to make more requests either. He simply didn't believe the Yuewang Society could really instigate the entire army. Even if they could instigate, that would have to wait until the war situation had a prospect and the morale of the Anhui New Army collapsed completely.

"Mr. Yan, we trust your guarantee. But words must be said upfront: after taking Anqing Prefecture, what do you want to take away?" Tao Chengzhang asked urgently. There must be a lot of money in the treasury of Anqing Prefecture, and the armory and other places stored a large amount of munitions and materials. At this time, the Yuewang Society had joined the Tongmenghui. Whether it was the Guangfuhui or the Tongmenghui, they coveted these materials in Anqing very much. Now that the People's Party was willing to send troops to attack Anqing, and Yan Fu personally guaranteed to hand over Anqing, Tao Chengzhang immediately wanted to settle this matter.

Yan Fu answered very crisply: "We take half the money and half the weapons. We won't take a bit of grain. After all, the flood has just passed, and Anqing Prefecture is also short of grain. If we take the grain, I'm afraid the common people of Anqing Prefecture won't last long."

Tao Chengzhang immediately rejected this plan without even thinking. "We can't let Mr. Yan take the weapons. According to what you said, the People's Party already has quite a few weapons. And we are extremely short of guns and ammunition here."

Yan Fu had discussed conditions with Chen Ke before coming this time. He didn't expect this trip to Wuhu to be so smooth. The purpose of handing Anqing over to the Guangfuhui was to let the Guangfuhui attract the attention of the Manchu Qing. If weapons and equipment were insufficient, the Guangfuhui indeed couldn't hold out for long. Seeing Tao Chengzhang start talking about how to divide the spoils after the war so anxiously, although Yan Fu felt Tao Chengzhang was very unseemly, he didn't want to haggle. He said generously: "If the weapons are given to you, then we have to take away some equipment from the Anqing Arsenal. The Fengtai County Base Area lacks mechanical equipment."

Tao Chengzhang actually didn't expect that his lion's open mouth [exorbitant demand] could actually get Yan Fu's agreement. Hearing Yan Fu wanted to transport away mechanical equipment, because he knew Yan Fu's vision was extremely far-reaching, Tao Chengzhang regretted it immediately. He simply said: "I'm afraid we also need to use the mechanical equipment. If Mr. Yan wants to transport it all away, what will we use?"

Yan Fu was an extremely shrewd person; knowing Tao Chengzhang was asking an exorbitant price, he became unhappy immediately. However, he had always been rigorous and usually very majestic, plus he was more than twenty years older than these people in front of him. Yan Fu darkened his face. "Huanqing, you are going too far. If talking about lack of materials, Fengyang Prefecture has just experienced a flood and lacks materials even more. Since everyone wants to cooperate, I thought you wanted to create a new situation, so I yielded the grain and firearms to you. If this still can't satisfy you, isn't that a bit too bullying?"

Seeing Yan Fu so unhappy, Bai Wenwei was afraid Tao Chengzhang would annoy Yan Fu. In case Yan Fu felt the loss outweighed the gain and simply gave up attacking Anqing, this pie falling from the sky would fly away. He hurriedly smoothed things over: "Mr. Yan, this matter is easy to discuss. As long as we can take Anqing, it will be a great success for the revolution. It's just, is Mr. Yan really sure it can succeed?"

Yan Fu turned his face to look at Bai Wenwei. "This time our People's Party sent more than three thousand soldiers to attack Anqing. As long as the New Army acts as insiders, I can be sure of inevitable success."

"Didn't Mr. Yan say the People's Party's troops already exceed ten thousand? Why send only three thousand people?" Bai Wenwei was somewhat puzzled about this. However, deep in his heart, he actually didn't hope the People's Party's ten thousand troops would really come out in full strength. As the saying goes, the situation is stronger than people. Although the Yuewang Society had quite a few members in the New Army, it was still far from fully controlling the Anqing New Army. If the People's Party troops really had the strength to absolutely take down Anqing as Yan Fu said, and if the People's Party turned hostile afterwards and refused to acknowledge the account, wanting to take away all the materials, neither the Yuewang Society nor the Guangfuhui would be an opponent at all.

"Troops are valued for quality, not quantity. Three thousand people are enough." Yan Fu's answer was also very simple.

Seeing Yan Fu's face had improved a bit, Tao Chengzhang continued to ask: "I wonder when the People's Party troops can arrive?"

"Within half a month."

"After taking Anqing, what plans does the People's Party have for Wuhu?" Tao Chengzhang asked.

Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei's faces changed slightly; this was asking to borrow troops. If the People's Party could take Anqing, Wuhu would be even less of a problem. In the plans of the Guangfuhui and Yuewang Society, they originally wanted to rise up in Anhui and Jiangsu/Zhejiang simultaneously. This Wuhu was located between Anqing and Nanjing; being able to possess both Anqing and the Wuhu area at the same time was extremely beneficial to the revolution. Moreover, Fengyang Prefecture was north of Anqing; if the Beiyang New Army went south, they would inevitably have to act against the People's Party in Fengyang Prefecture first. With the People's Party holding out in the north, the south could also be much more relaxed. Thinking of this, both of them stared at Yan Fu, wanting to see how exactly Yan Fu would respond.

If before arriving at the base area, Yan Fu would have had the same view as these old-style revolutionaries: occupying famous cities had huge effects. Since accepting the concept of people's revolution to a certain extent, Yan Fu looked down on this attitude in his heart. Fengtai County, a small place, could have earth-shaking changes after mobilizing the people. Taking Fengyang Prefecture with the land of one county, "rural areas encircling the cities" proposed by Chen Ke had been proven extremely effective. The vast countryside had the vast majority of people in China; not occupying the countryside but only thinking of occupying cities—this strategic vision seemed very backward in Yan Fu's eyes.

Before coming this time, Chen Ke specifically showed the organizational discipline of the People's Party members to Yan Fu. Targeting the discipline that "Chinese People's Party members must completely sever all connections with parties and groups attempting to oppose the Party's program," Chen Ke had made it clear that the relationship with the Yuewang Society and Guangfuhui was merely a cooperative relationship; the two sides were not political party organizations of the same line. Do not provide them with help in strategic thinking. Yan Fu didn't feel there was anything particularly unacceptable about this. Of course, Yan Fu didn't know Chen Duxiu's "status in history"; Chen Ke didn't mention at all that this person was one of the founders of the Communist Party.

Due to the lack of a "historical figure collection addiction," in Chen Ke's view, Chen Duxiu in 1907 and Chen Duxiu in 1921 were basically two people with the same name but completely different. If Yan Fu hadn't mentioned it to Chen Ke, Chen Ke wouldn't even know he could deal with the founder of the Party so quickly. Even knowing Chen Duxiu was the president of the Yuewang Society, Chen Ke had no intention of treating him specially.

Since Chen Ke emphasized so, Yan Fu didn't want to make decisions on his own either. Looking at Tao Chengzhang's extremely expectant eyes, Yan Fu replied: "Huanqing wants to borrow troops. No problem. When we withdraw from Anqing, we have to take the water route, so we might as well take Chizhou, Tongling, and Wuhu together and hand them all over to you. But I say it upfront: taking so many territories, do the Guangfuhui and Yuewang Society have so many troops to hold them? Our People's Party troops leave immediately after fighting and will absolutely not stay. If you want us to assist you in defending the city, Huanqing should not make such plans."

Hearing this, a heartfelt smile appeared on Tao Chengzhang's face immediately. He had been running around for the revolution all these years, organizing and planning quite a few uprisings, but had never succeeded. Now he could seize Anqing without spending much effort; this was simply like a pie falling from the sky. Even listening to Yan Fu's advice, Tao Chengzhang didn't feel anything wrong. For him, being able to occupy such a famous city as Anqing, and then having such a large territory of Chizhou, Tongling, and Wuhu along the Yangtze River—this was a situation he dared not even think of before. Running east and west these years, Tao Chengzhang knew a large number of "frustrated heroes." As long as they had these territories, Tao Chengzhang believed that once the Guangfuhui raised an arm and called, it would definitely be a situation where all directions responded. At that time, revolutionary comrades would all come to defect, and there was no need to worry about defending the city.

On the basis of such negotiation, the representatives of the three parties—People's Party, Yuewang Society, and Guangfuhui—reached a preliminary agreement. The People's Party was responsible for the actual military action, while the Yuewang Society and Guangfuhui provided inside help. Once the agreement was reached, Bai Wenwei didn't even eat; he went out immediately to contact members in the Anqing New Army. Tao Chengzhang also went out at the same time; he had received the latest news passed by Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin that Guangfuhui comrades were coming to Anhui. Having received Yan Fu's guarantee again, Tao Chengzhang went to urge the comrades on the road to step up their actions.

The remaining Chen Duxiu invited Yan Fu to have lunch together, and then Yan Fu got up to leave. Chen Duxiu insisted on sending Yan Fu to the dock personally. As the two walked and chatted, Chen Duxiu laughed: "Mr. Yan, I have read the book of your brilliant disciple Chen Wenqing; the student really surpasses the master."

Yan Fu was unwilling to claim the credit for Chen Ke's *The Rise of Materialism and Chinese Cultural Inheritance* for himself. He just smiled faintly. "That child Wen Qing is very full of youthful vigor; what he wrote makes Zhongfu laugh."

Chen Duxiu said: "Mr. Yan is too polite. If Brother Wen Qing didn't have real talent and learning, how could he pull up a force of such scale unknowingly? I wonder what clever plan Brother Wen Qing has?"

Yan Fu was stunned by this question. He pondered for a moment but couldn't find a suitable explanation. He couldn't help quoting words from the *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*): "The great waters are monstrous, vastly encompassing the mountains and rising above the hills; the people below are worried."

Chen Duxiu's learning was top-notch. Hearing this, he was also stunned. Yan Fu taught at the Beiyang Naval Academy for twenty years; everyone praised him for educating countless people, but Yan Fu's evaluation of his disciples could be said to be somewhat harsh: "I managed the Beiyang Academy for more than ten years; to speak truthfully, among them, there are no disciples I am proud of. Wu Zhaoyi (Guangjian) has learning, but his temperament is perverse; Wang Shaoquan (Shaolian) is honest, but too cautious. Besides these two, although I have a prominent reputation and position, all are mediocre talents." Hearing Yan Fu actually quote the dilemma faced by Yu the Great when taming the flood in the *Basic Annals of Xia*, he knew Yan Fu evaluated Chen Ke extremely highly. Chen Duxiu was also a humorous person, so he continued to ask: "Could it be that Wen Qing also holds the plow and hammer in hand, putting the people first?"

This was the phrase praising Yu the Great in Han Feizi's *Five Vermin*. Yan Fu knew the source as soon as he heard it. When Chen Ke led the common people of Fengtai County in production self-help, Yan Fu was not in the base area. When he met Chen Ke in Shanghai, Chen Ke's skin color wasn't dark, and his palms were smooth and delicate like those from a big family. Meeting Chen Ke again after a year of separation, Chen Ke's skin was already tanned dark. When shaking hands with Chen Ke, Yan Fu could clearly feel the thick calluses on Chen Ke's hands. He definitely did a lot of physical work and ate a lot of bitterness. Not only Chen Ke, but the party members and soldiers of the People's Party were like this without exception. If everyone hadn't eaten so much bitterness, how could they protect themselves in the disaster year of monstrous floods?

Looking at Chen Duxiu opposite him again, his appearance and skin color were almost exactly the same as when Yan Fu left Wuhu a year ago. One look and you knew he was a scholar who maintained his body well. The Yuewang Society had been established for almost two years, yet up to now, it could only rely on the power of the People's Party to obtain territory. While the People's Party could have such a scale in just one year, Yan Fu felt this was only logical. One talked empty words, one did solid work; if the Yuewang Society could surpass the People's Party, wouldn't that be against the laws of heaven?

But Chen Duxiu's words couldn't be ignored either. Yan Fu responded faintly: "Young people, eating more bitterness does no harm."

Chen Duxiu was twenty-five years younger than Yan Fu. Hearing this, he also felt a bit embarrassed. He wasn't sure if Yan Fu was being polite or disguisingly criticizing him. But Chen Duxiu absolutely dared not ask Yan Fu directly.

Soon they arrived at the dock. Yan Fu boarded the ship ready to set off. Under Chen Duxiu's gaze, the small fleet of two ships raised their sails high and sailed away from the dock.

Bai Wenwei hired a boat and left a little earlier than Yan Fu. Standing at the bow, letting the cold river wind blow, his heart was fiery. Since the establishment of the Yuewang Society, it had been committed to launching uprisings. Because the Yuewang Society was a group formed by literati, they had no soldiers in hand. They chose the route of infiltrating the New Army and winning over secret societies. In the past two years, infiltrating the New Army was done okay; at least some nails were driven in. They also knew quite a few local armed forces. But wanting to combine these two was extremely difficult. usually, local armed forces bragged extremely big, patting their chests loudly. But when it really came to asking them to send troops, these people immediately had many excuses: either no money, no grain, or no weapons. Or simply lacking two or three of these three things at the same time. If the Yuewang Society didn't lack money, grain, and weapons, the Yuewang Society would have formed armed forces itself. What to contact local armed forces for? So watching more and more people in the New Army, as long as someone was willing to attack Anqing, it would definitely succeed. But they just couldn't find armed forces willing to exert effort.

This time Yan Fu was actually willing to bring troops to attack Anqing; it was really greatly beyond Bai Wenwei's expectations. Bai Wenwei was not without suspicion, but Yan Fu's personal credit was enough to eliminate most of the suspicion. After all, Bai Wenwei was still a revolutionary of the old era; in his thoughts, the leader of a group and army was the most important. In the general environment of 1907 where the leader decided everything, it couldn't be said that Bai Wenwei was wrong. So as soon as a person with reputation like Yan Fu came out, Bai Wenwei basically believed it.

Holding a belief that "the revolution is finally about to succeed," the boat Bai Wenwei took sailed upstream towards Anqing.

At the same time, Tao Chengzhang walked briskly towards the southeast direction. This capable general of the Guangfuhui often walked more than a hundred li a day on ordinary days to visit heroes from all walks of life. What Bai Wenwei encountered, Tao Chengzhang had also encountered countless times. The Guangfuhui tried hard to launch various uprisings in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, ending in failure every time. Failure time and again stung the heart of this revolutionary idealist. However, Tao Chengzhang's improvement in understanding was limited to how to contact more powerful revolutionary forces and launch larger uprisings. As for how to cultivate people's revolution among the people, Tao Chengzhang never set foot in it.

Like Bai Wenwei, when a famous scholar like Yan Fu expressed his attitude, Tao Chengzhang felt he had taken a real reassurance pill. Chen Ke's news only made Tao Chengzhang feel he might try, while Yan Fu made Tao Chengzhang make up his mind to invest strength into this battle to attack Anqing. However, Tao Chengzhang had no intention of participating in the battle; he believed that Guangfuhui comrades should be used to take over the cities conquered by the People's Party, rather than be consumed in battle for nothing. Perhaps Tao Chengzhang himself didn't realize how outrageous his idea of hoping to obtain the fruits of revolution for nothing was. But Tao Chengzhang just believed that such things as pies falling from the sky definitely existed, only he hadn't encountered them. And Yan Fu gave him this opportunity to pick up the pie.

Yan Fu, Bai Wenwei, and Tao Chengzhang went in three different directions. What exactly would happen when they gathered together again? Anqing City, located in the center of the impending storm, had no premonition at all. The Spring Festival was coming soon; officials big and small in the entire Anqing Prefecture were preparing gifts, rich people started collecting debts, and ordinary families also tried hard to make a living, hoping to have a good year this year. The disaster victims wandering on the streets still died in batches every day due to freezing and starvation. It seemed nothing had changed, as if such days would continue endlessly.