At that time, the Premier of the State Council, Duan Qirui, took over the power of the Beiyang government and refused to restore the "Provisional Agreement" and the Congress. With the support of the Japanese, he was determined to use force to achieve reunification;

(Portrait of Sun Yat-sen)

During the period when he was engaged in the work of reconciling the northern and southern warlords to achieve peaceful reunification on behalf of Jiangsu Governor Li Chun, Bai Jianwu had many contacts with Sun Yat-sen.

In 1917, Bai Jianwu was hired by Li Chun as a consultant to the Jiangsu Supervisory Office and director of the Communication Section of the Secretariat. At that time, the Premier of the State Council Duan Qirui had overall power over the Beiyang Government and refused to restore the " Temporary Convention " and the Congress. With the support of the Japanese, he was determined to use force to achieve reunification; while the President Feng Guozhang had the support of the United Kingdom and the United States. He advocated peaceful reunification and instructed Li Chun to call for peace. In order to improve his prestige and status, Li Chun appeared as a mediator. Therefore, representatives from all southwestern provinces came to Nanjing to discuss the current situation. At this time, Sun Yat-sen had organized a French military government in Guangzhou to compete with Duan Qirui. Li Chun immediately sent Bai Jianwu as a representative to discuss the North-South peace talks with all parties. On December 8, 1917, Bai Jianwu set off by boat specifically to meet with Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou to discuss the issue of peaceful reunification.

After wandering on the sea for several days, Bai Jianwu was full of ambition and wrote a poem to express his ambition:

The blue waves floated on the sky and the earth, and the loyalty shines through the past and the present.

In the shadow of the lights and the sound of waves, there are people from the past and the future.

There will be tears of common people, let’s not talk about the waves.

The next day, he composed another seven-rhythm poem:

Walking through mountains and rivers, wandering beyond the borders of Kyushu.

The boat welcomes the snow and practices Jinbo Li, and the people come from the Milky Way Jade Liquid.

The sky can control the high aura, and the calm mind will return to the sea.

The lingering feelings will go with the flow, and everything will be lost with a glass of wine.

Sun Yat-sen gave Bai Jianwu a high-level reception. On the 12th, two people were sent to Hong Kong to welcome him; on the 13th, Bai Jianwu arrived in Guangzhou. Just after staying in the hotel, some dignitaries from the Kuomintang government came to visit; on the morning of the 14th, Sun Yat-sen sent a boat to pick him up. At this time, Sun Yat-sen was hospitalized due to illness and met Bai Jianwu on his bed. Sun Yat-sen was physically and mentally exhausted, with a depressed look on his face, but he talked about the issues with laughter and detail, and Bai Jianwu couldn't help but sigh: "The founder's reputation is true!" During his stay in Guangzhou, Bai Jianwu had extensive contacts and discussions with all walks of life. "On the trip to Guangzhou, I surveyed the psychology of all parties. They longed for peace more than looking forward to the new year. They unanimously agreed to restore the Congress, but he had no problem." On December 16, Bai Jianwu left Guangzhou. On the ship, he recalled his experiences in the past few days and wrote Two thoughts:

1. The Cantonese people are rich in political and economic talents and can be said to be superior in the country, but there is nothing they can do about the military based on the current situation. People from other provinces have an inherent monopoly, but the Guangdong army has neither the ability to fight nor the military discipline to speak of. The result of the conflict is only a disaster for the local government;

Secondly, the feelings of the people of Guangdong and Guangxi have been ruined. In the past, we have been exposed to dangers from the enemy many times and managed to avoid collapse, but it will inevitably happen in the future. The rule of Chen Shunqing's family is definitely unbalanced, but the Cantonese people can neither give orders nor obey orders. They are ambitious but powerless. They only use verbal attacks. Isn't it close to being prone to chaos and achieving nothing? I am not a bureaucrat, and I cannot make sad and crazy remarks. If the phenomenon is like this, it is definitely not false.

On December 8 and 11, 1918, Bai Jianwu visited Sun Yat-sen twice more in Shanghai. During the conversation, when the European War Peace Conference was mentioned, Sun Yat-sen said: "China should propose the independence of Koryeo at the peace table at this time. Cover Koryeo cannot be compared with Annan, the war between China and France, China ceded Annan to France by treaty, and the war between China and Japan China withdrew its sovereignty by treaty and made Korea independent. Japan recognized it at the time and then gradually annexed it. The United States also declared that it respected the independence of Korea at that time, but later it was inconvenient to speak independently. Today, at the international joint conference, a submission was made The joint efforts of China and the United States are enough to fundamentally reduce the number of annexers by force." Bai Jianwu replied: "It is indeed a good opportunity to solve the problem, but the internal affairs are not resolved, so this issue cannot be achieved." Later, the two talked about the issue of troop reduction and supervision. , The Revolution of 1911 and the blunt relationship between the military and government diplomacy. In the end, the two exchanged photos and parted happily. Bai Jianwu's impression of Sun Yat-sen this time was that "Zhongshan has the best political knowledge but lacks common sense."

On January 11 and February 16, 1919, Bai Jianwu visited Sun Yat-sen again to discuss peace issues, but he still felt that "Zhongshan did not understand the political situation and was away from him." It's far away, but the light shines brightly."

The last time Bai Jianwu saw Sun Yat-sen was on December 25, 1920. That night, he and Sun Hongyi visited Sun Yat-sen together. The content of the conversation was not recorded.

In 1924, Sun Yat-sen passed away. After hearing the news, Bai Jianwu wrote I wrote an elegiac couplet. The first couplet is: "Lenin died, Zhongshan died again, and there is no healthy person in the world." I thought hard and couldn't find the second couplet, so I had to reluctantly write it: "The sheep city is dry, the mind is also dry, and the spirit is vast for thousands of years." "I always felt something was wrong, so a friend next to me made a couplet: "The revolution has been successful, but communism has not been achieved. Mr. Generosity is more than sad. Only then did I feel satisfied. The next day, I wrote another one: "It's hard to be a minor in public affairs. Why should I fight if the world is destroyed?" "