At a glanceCiphertext-only break · partial (100% of the cipher)
- The telegrams
- 27 cipher telegrams of 3 June to 2 July 1916, most dated 8–16 June, between Huang Xing and Zhang Xiaozhun in Tokyo and the Shanghai group (Yin Ruli, Huang Fu, Ge Jing’en), Governor Lü Gongwang of Zhejiang and the Hunanese group. Five more in the same files are in clear.
- Where
- Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, via JACAR: B03050089200–B03050089500 and vol. 4, B03050089900 and B03050090000. Telegraph-office forms copied by the police.
- The cipher
- Chinese telegraph code numbers in four-digit groups, disguised by three keys. A clear prefix on each form names the code book: 0364 1378 = 共密, 1369 1378 = 容密, 6591 1378 = 辰密.
- How it was solved
- Key searches scored with a telegraph-code language model, no cribs. Each key reads telegrams that were not used to find it, and the day codes at the end agree with the dates on the forms.
- Credit
- Brice Dudout, with Claude (mainly Opus 5.5): digits re-read on the scans, the three keys, translations and context. His pages: 共密, 容密, 辰密, June 1916. Cross-posted with his agreement. This project checked his keys with its own decoder.
- What it says
- Japanese arms for Zhejiang; Japan’s refusal to lend to Beijing before North and South are unified; Huang Xing’s conditions for Li Yuanhong, beginning with the 1912 Constitution.
- Still open
- On 22 October 2026 the raw 共密 and 容密 decodes, with clusters of wrong characters (圄會 for 國會), were set back to decoded, not read. On 23 October Dudout’s readings from his Wenmi pages were checked group by group against the decoder (20 groups of 共密 re-read by him on the scans; one value added here, N24 灰): every character is the figure’s own value except 21 and 41 on a one-digit alternate and 3 and 15 supplied from context, and both sets now build sentences, with English (
texts/gongmi_reading.md,rongmi_reading.md). Left as [?x]: 21 characters in 共密 and 47 in 容密, mostly names, signatures and date codes, with 6 illegible groups; 7 doubtful characters in 辰密. 18 of the 22 sheets of the longest telegram not yet re-read blind; five short telegrams in other books (和密, 乾密, no prefix) or not reading under the 共密 key.
01 The forms
When Yuan Shikai died on 6 June 1916, Huang Xing was in Tokyo, living at Aoyama Minami-machi 3-53, and his allies were in Shanghai. The Japanese police copied the telegrams that passed between them onto the telegraph office’s own forms, and the copies survive in a Foreign Ministry series of mail and telegrams of watched persons. Each form holds a grid of digits written as kanji numerals. Brice Dudout reads the grid in columns, right to left, each column from the top, and cuts the stream into four-digit groups.
The first two groups are in clear and name the code. Hsueh Chun-tu’s edition of Huang Xing’s 1916 drafts notes a code name at the head of each telegram, one per correspondent. On that evidence, 共密, 容密 and 辰密 are code books issued to particular correspondents, and each needed its own key.
| code | telegrams | groups | without doubt | doubtful | illegible |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 共密 | 9 | 555 | 510 | 45 | — |
| 容密 | 14 | 1,306 | 1,198 | 102 | 6 |
| 辰密 | 4 | 239 | 232 | 7 | — |
Counts from Brice Dudout’s email of 19 October 2026; the group totals were measured here on his digit file.
02 The 共密 key
Swap the tens digit through a fixed table, then subtract the group from 9000. The tens table is
| tens written | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tens meant | 9 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
Example. N17 opens 1188 4080 4113 7528. In 1188 the tens digit 8 stays 8, and 9000 − 1188 = 7812, 黎. In 7528 the tens 2 becomes 6, giving 7568, and 9000 − 7568 = 1432, 就. The four groups give 黎總統就, “President Li has taken [office]”. N17 ends 3887 3739 5550, 聞興灰: “for your information. Xing. The 10th.”
The key was found by trying every constant from 0000 to 9999 and, for each, choosing the best tens table exactly, scored by a model of telegraph-code pairs trained on telegrams of 1915–16. Only 9000 and this table give Chinese.
03 The 容密 key
Each digit is replaced according to its place, and 0901 is added with ordinary carrying:
| digit | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousands | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| hundreds | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| tens | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| units | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Example. 2081: the thousands 2 and hundreds 0 stay, the tens 8 becomes 4, the units 1 becomes 8, giving 2048; 2048 + 0901 = 2949, 款, “funds”. No group in the corpus begins with 00: the encipherer wrote 90 instead, which is why the thousands 9 stands for 0. So 9084 becomes 0047, and 0047 + 0901 = 0948, 國.
The first sheets alone, ninety groups, were too few. Once about 590 groups from the continuation sheets were in hand, annealing four digit tables gave readable text. The addition showed itself through one word: 借款, “loan”, sometimes came out 借甸, a thousand too high, exactly when no carry came up from the hundreds. The exact key was computed on four telegrams (N02, N08, N11, N12). The other ten decode with it unchanged, among them N14, which ends 佳, the day code for the 9th, the date on its form.
04 The 辰密 key
This one adds nothing: it is the telegraph code itself, reordered. The code is laid out in pages of a hundred characters. In 辰密 the first two digits give the page, counted backwards over the numbers that contain no zero: 99 is page 00, 98 page 01, down to 91 = page 08, then 89 = page 09 (90 is skipped), and so on to 11 = page 80. The tens and units are permuted:
| digit | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tens | 3 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| units | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
Example. 9950 4220 6219. In 9950, page 99 is 00, tens 5 is 0, units 0 is 1: 0001, 一. In 4220, page 42 is 52, tens 2 is 8, units 0 is 1: 5281, 興 (Huang Xing’s signature). In 6219, page 62 is 34, tens 1 is 9, and units 9 counts as 10, carrying into the tens: 3400 + 90 + 10 = 3500, 灰, the day code for the 10th.
No 辰密 telegram had a known plaintext, and the other two keys did not fit. Two features pointed to a reordered book: no 0 in the first two places, and a quarter of the text on three “pages” (99, 96, 93). Annealing a model with permuted pages, tens and units on three telegrams (201 groups) gave readable text. The page table it found followed the zero-free countdown, which was then imposed. Two wrong characters, 劈 for 力 and 滠 for 灰, both from groups ending in 9, gave the rule that 9 stands for 10.
05 The checks
His checks. Each key also decodes telegrams that were not used to find it. The 容密 key, computed on four telegrams, decodes the other ten without refitting; refitted on all of them it returns the same tables. 辰密 N05 was left out of the search and has no prefix, yet it decodes straight through. N16 ends with 灰, the 10th, the date on its header. Three telegrams from vol. 4 (V4B, V4D, V4E) were found after the keys and decode with them unchanged. The names that come out belong to people holding the right offices in June 1916: Zhang Guogan, Gu Zhongxiu, Zhao Hengti, Tang Xiangming, Tang Hualong. Every digit was re-read blind on the scans by Brice Dudout, without seeing the decipherment. The exception is the longest 容密 telegram, V4B, where only 4 of 22 sheets have been re-read so far.
The check made here (20 October 2026).
- His
verify.pyreproduces all 32 published raw texts (27 cipher telegrams and 5 in clear) from his digits. It scores each key’s text with his language model against 200 random keys of the same form and 200 shufflings of the digits. The real keys score 3.49 (共密), 3.18 (容密) and 3.77 (辰密); the best random key reaches −1.45, −1.67 and −1.59, and the best shuffle −1.22, −1.46 and −1.18. - His 共密 search, rerun from scratch, finds 9000 and the tens table exactly. His 容密 search finds the hundreds and tens tables exactly and the units up to one carry, but not the 90-for-00 rule; he describes that last step as made by hand.
- A decoder written here from the three key statements alone (
targets/numeric1916/decode.py), using the Unihan telegraph-code table already in this repository, was applied to his digit streams. All 2,100 cipher groups give the same character as his published raw texts (555 of 555, 1,306 of 1,306, 239 of 239), and so do the 372 clear groups.
This confirms that the keys as stated turn his digits into his texts, and that his controls behave as he reports. It does not re-read the scans. Only the first dozen digits of the N16 form shown above were compared by eye, and they match.
06 What they say
Brice Dudout’s article sets the telegrams in their history. Hsueh Chun-tu’s edition of Huang Xing’s 1916 drafts has nothing between the pieces of 8 and 20 June, and these telegrams are mostly dated in between. Translations below are his, shortened.
Arms and loans (容密)
On 9 June Huang Xing wires Governor Lü Gongwang of Zhejiang, through Shanghai (N14):
轉呂都督鑒：袁死，大局益艱，非切實預備，不足以申張國法、奠定國基。感佩藎籌，當効棉力。械先運，款百萬亦可卽成。興佳
“Yuan is dead and the situation is harder; without real preparation we cannot uphold the law of the State. The arms will be shipped first; the loan of one million can also be concluded at once. Xing, the 9th.” Zhang Xiaozhun’s telegrams give the order: about ten thousand rifles, ten or so mountain guns, machine guns (N02, N12). Lü asks for exact models and rounds per weapon (N21), offers Zhejiang’s tobacco taxes as security (N25), and promises payment before 30 June (N36).
Japan and the Constitution (共密, 容密)
On 10 June Huang Xing sets out five demands to put to Li Yuanhong (N17): restore the old Provisional Constitution and Parliament, issue no amnesty, have Duan Qirui’s cabinet resign, move Wang Zhanyuan, bring the party leaders to Beijing. He adds:
再，日當局決定：非南北統一，[?廖]不借款於北京政府。
“Moreover, the Japanese authorities have decided not to lend to the Beijing government until South and North are unified.” [?廖] marks a character the figure gives but the sense does not explain. The next day (N19b) he warns that “a legal solution, without sufficient armed force behind it, will have no effect”, and asks that Zhejiang be “the pillar of the South-East”. From Shanghai, Yin Ruli, Ge Jing’en and Huang Fu report the meeting at Tang’s house: Tang Shaoyi and Tang Hualong will not go to Beijing until Yuan’s laws are annulled and the 1912 Constitution is restored (N24). Li Yuanhong’s reply to Huang Xing of 14 June is in the same file, in clear (N34).
A division for Li (辰密)
On 10 June Zhang Xiaozhun asks the Hunanese group to give the new president troops he can rely on (N16, shown above): Zhao Hengti, “always trusted by Li”, then training troops under Governor Tang, should form an elite division at his disposal. The day before, Huang Xing had written that a joint telegram to Li, Cen Chunxuan and the provinces was hard to word, and that “Japan’s attitude is very much wait-and-see” (N13, 日態度頗觀望).
07 What is open
- In the readings of 23 October 2026, 21 共密 characters and 47 容密 characters are kept as [?x] (the figure’s value, not understood), 3 and 15 are supplied from context, and 6 容密 groups are illegible; 辰密 has 7 doubtful characters. Most come from uncertain digits on the police copies. A few codes recur with an unexpected character (繒 for 生, 盻 for 盼); they are marked, not corrected. In 辰密 four characters are probable readings resting on a single digit, and 一不 in N13 is probably a slip for 不一.
- V4B, 265 groups over 22 sheets, has been re-read blind on only 4 sheets. In V4B, V4D and V4E the digit file includes framing repairs (a digit missing or extra) inferred from the decoding, still to be checked on the scans.
- Five short telegrams in the same files have only their first sheet transcribed and no key. N06 is headed 和密 and N09 乾密; N01 and N03 have no prefix; N07 carries the 共密 prefix but does not decode with the 共密 key.
- None of the three keys has been found in a historical code book, and the 1916 edition of the telegraph code is not identified; one printed edition agrees on fourteen entries checked. The texts have not been found in the 黃興集 or in Li Yuanhong’s correspondence, which are still to be searched. The translations are proposals.
Full texts
The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.
共密, 9 telegrams, June-July 1916
Telegrams between Huang Xing's circle in Tokyo and the Shanghai group, intercepted in Japan: among them Huang Xing's five conditions to Li Yuanhong (restore the 1912 Provisional Constitution and the old Parliament, no amnesty, Duan's cabinet to resign, move Wang Zhanyuan, bring the party leaders to Beijing; N17). Key recovered by Brice Dudout; decrypted here with an independent decoder from his digit readings.
Transcription
N17 1188 4080 4113 7528 8883 7811 7566 4217 7647 2294 7068 1565 8669 7645 7037 6611 8934 7250 6714 8304 6832 8545 6436 2902 6436 7122 8923 8943 2847 7672 8256 5566 6074 4101 7666 2875 8622 2347 2847 1188 8699 5649 3133 8909 7197 7232 3737 4294 5813 8366 8062 6435 8941 8467 4951 2674 8801 8366 8664 2938 8801 8905 8891 5902 4437 2432 3880 8341 8408 8883 8210 5326 3741 6486 4080 5100 8869 1969 8295 8918 6438 8406 3087 2870 8349 3976 8467 8675 8408 8646 8707 1910 8062 6435 2140 6560 4101 4010 6077 7201 8645 1969 8026 7588 5291 8456 8623 2862 1910 7709 5964 2489 8918 6741 2140 8695 3976 5326 2261 4704 8997 6844 5964 1115 2902 8934 8646 8971 8432 8256 8909 8526 8675 6570 5039 7566 5938 7647 1724 8431 8476 4113 8909 7375 8902 8726 6061 6544 8446 8971 6652 7360 8822 6076 1188 8699 6981 8902 3793 8361 8545 8983 3887 3739 5550 N18 3466 1857 7135 1188 5902 3633 2826 7250 6620 2727 8696 8225 5964 1115 2902 5999 5039 5466 4899 7691 8062 6652 8902 1839 2655 6544 5813 5888 6077 2400 6062 2379 6076 4862 4806 5759 6431 6074 8550 5326 8923 7275 6794 7142 4842 8593 6462 1839 6653 8883 6039 8062 8943 8707 6486 6156 7878 8861 8675 5938 3039 4874 N23 8666 8622 1905 5066 8918 7580 5991 4805 6431 1857 3793 1710 6304 6431 8271 8624 5326 7283 8736 6061 2847 8622 ?916 7294 8775 8859 5326 2902 7212 4061 N27 5608 6061 8943 7491 8334 8321 9880 8941 4896 2849 2395 5469 6452 3739 N30 1602 8368 6646 7580 5991 8999 5608 8622 8800 8718 8934 8338 3910 1847 6431 8371 1615 8943 4109 8956 6074 2165 8392 8726 7580 6061 2847 3799 7899 3739 8148 N32 3737 4294 5813 8392 6452 7197 7232 6227 5875 2985 7890 84?6 8971 5623 2902 8934 5469 7219 4731 8929 7312 8918 7578 1?57 6974 2248 8745 8695 8983 1857 2806 8699 7479 4952 7928 7232 1857 5745 7109 4951 3007 7645 7043 3486 5901 2104 7541 1857 8699 1688 2900 6435 2348 7996 N33 1542 6183 6468 6405 8368 8971 1857 5902 4437 2729 5938 8373 4896 5875 8905 8934 2636 8971 2729 4294 5813 5623 6653 7644 6537 4761 6227 1887 2870 2800 4294 5813 6745 7371 8645 1969 5902 5326 4080 4113 1104 3912 8549 8971 6451 5902 2721 5623 2729 8295 8387 1910 6435 8364 7583 8903 7197 7232 3737 4294 5813 7142 4041 6991 8699 6462 1726 2926 6435 7906 N35 8446 8971 8396 1898 8373 4896 8802 8007 2729 4294 5813 7068 8099 5856 5681 4294 5803 8817 8065 6435 2847 8503 8229 8934 1247 7647 7666 8644 8094 6545 3799 3133 1398 6435 8983 2970 5813 1869 5163 4421 8273 4896 8901 5875 8801 8007 9887 1290 6061 8955 6203 8976 5103 1189 8902 3799 5065 5902 6431 2908 8087 6651 6425 8923 8412 7645 5065 8065 6435 2719 8195 3770 5964 1489 7880 8976 8802 8007 7843 2944 1847 7880 8934 8707 6077 4113 8909 7275 8675 8976 2729 V4E 4213 5875 8934 8879 2944 8943 7122 1856 6061 8699 7878 2160 4213 6511 7645 7122 2306 4898 8669 4118 3633 7314 8063 7491 8646 8971 8699 8861 6486 8968 8861 3603 2306 2847 8669 4645 2901 6511
Transcription
tel group groups.tsv (repo messages.json) decode Wenmi page table (23 Oct 2026) decode source N30 14 1847 隸 2847 請 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N30 31 8148 嗒 8248 咸 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N32 12 84?6 □ 8446 北 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N32 21 7312 年 7212 張 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N32 24 1?57 □ 1857 電 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N32 46 2104 酵 1104 黃 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N33 34 7371 廛 7271 得 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N33 56 8903 下 8902 不 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 23 8229 咀 8339 同 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 25 1247 鷦 2347 逶 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 38 1869 隣 2869 説 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 39 5163 瑁 5263 獨 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 41 8273 唁 8373 各 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 43 8901 丐 8902 不 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 45 8801 令 8802 代 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 51 6203 栽 6303 未 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 70 2719 識 2729 議 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 74 1489 騮 2489 軍 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 81 1847 隸 2847 請 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table) N35 91 2729 議 3739 興 Dudout re-read on the JACAR scan (page digit table)
Decryption
# Output of decode.py (this folder) run 22 Oct 2026 on groups.tsv (Brice Dudout's digit readings), key gongmi. One telegram per block: id, direction, then the decoded characters (□ = a group with an illegible digit or a code not in the telegraph table). Verbatim decoder output, not edited; the published texts with Dudout's notes and translations are on his Wenmi pages. ## N17 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 10, prefix 0364 1378) 黎總統就任大局粗定鄙意首先宜慰撫人心排却挾制最要最急之事請密商濟武組安諸兄逶請黎公漠行一恢復舊約法及國會二勿發赦令及免訢令三使段等辭職另加任命爲臨時總理但閣員中曾助袁謀叛者勿再加入俟開國會釣新組織正式內閣四將王占元調開委民軍中握釣兵者爲郙督五招民黨要人入京協商一切再日當局決定非南匿統一廖不借款於北京政府似此黎公應不至受制並聞興灰 ## N18 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 11, prefix 0364 1378) 蒸電悉黎段若誠心擁護共和民黨要求當然相容國政不難趨於法治正軌欲達此監的湏有武力爲之後援恐目前暫難放任歸國事俟時機如何再決襋真 ## N23 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 青山南町三ノ五三, day 13, prefix 0364 1378) 克兄鑕田中小池皆有電至青木有唈允爲弟僅款請兄□往催促爲要張繼 ## N27 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 15, prefix 0364 1378) 溥款事己向參薾二省談過無望興 ## N30 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 15, prefix 0364 1378) 頃又據小池云溥兄以個人名義隸有吉領事紹介武釆可借小款請自奪興嗒 ## N32 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 青山南町三ノ五三, day 14, prefix 0364 1378) 舊約法可望恢復梁派見好□京滬要人無弧硬主年中山□所部停兵並電詢公已登報復電渠必發表宜慎葛殷酵屢電公須覆會逵境 ## N33 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 三ノ五三, day 15, prefix 0364 1378) 馮極暗昧又京電段等議決各省派三人赴京議約法滬放客早知梁陰謀詬約法換廛內閣段爲總統黃羣到京朞段變滬議員卽開會反對下恢復舊約法恐纍戰公暫靜觀會城 ## N35 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 16, prefix 0364 1378) 北京召集各省代噸議約法意在消滅約沮伋圄會請凌咀人鷦定安全地方自行鰭會並設法隣瑁立唁省丐派令噸蓷鹽款仍栽交現黏不自由段有襲嚥故智之勢宜由圄會識嗹與民騮外交代噸奡言隸外人俟正統一後再交議 ## V4E (Shanghai → Tokyo, day 2, prefix 0364 1378) 粤派人來言事急需款公如重粤文宜急返盼先給若干圉己入京公何時乘何船返請先示覃文
Reading
# 共密 (gongmi), 9 telegrams, June-July 1916: reading Re-read 23 Oct 2026 (Claude Opus 5.5; REREAD_BRIEF, batch b21). What it rests on: Brice Dudout's proposed readings on his Wenmi pages (bdudout.github.io/wenmi/en/gongmi.html, fetched 23 Oct 2026; CC BY 4.0, attributed), checked group by group against our independent decoder (`decode.py`) on the digits of his page tables, which are newer than the repository's `groups.tsv` (see `gongmi_reread_log.md`). Every character of the reading is the figure's own value under the key, except: a character in [brackets] is supplied from context (no one-digit variant of its group gives it); [?x] is the figure's value kept but not understood, or a partly carried conjecture; […] is an illegible group. Characters that rest on a one-digit alternate of the group (a digit read differently from the police copy, often 一/二/三) are unbracketed and listed in `gongmi_align.tsv` (kind 'one-digit alternate'). Punctuation is Dudout's. Score of the body: Chinese is not scored by `_check_reading.py`; explicit holes only, one character = one word (`research/reading_audit/b21_wenmi_md.py`): 41/45 sentences clean (0.91), 21 holes in 555 characters. ## Reading ### N17 黎總統就任，大局粗定。鄙意首先宜慰撫人心，排却挾制。最要最急之事，請密商濟武、組安諸兄，速請黎公[?漠]行：一、恢復舊約法及國會；二、勿發赦令及免訴令；三、使段等辭職，另加任命爲臨時總理，但閣員中曾助袁謀叛者勿再加入，俟開國會，重新組織正式內閣；四、將王占元調開，委民軍中握重兵者爲[都]督；五、招民黨要人入京協商一切。再，日當局決定：非南北統一，[?廖]不借款於北京政府。似此黎公應不至受制。並聞。興灰 ### N18 蒸電悉。黎、段若誠心擁護共和，民黨要求當然相容，國政不難趨於法治正軌。欲達此目的，湏有武力爲之後援。恐目前暫難放任。歸國事俟時機如何再決。興真 ### N23 克兄鑒：田中、小池皆有電至青木，有[?唈]允爲弟借款，請兄親往催促爲要。張繼 ### N27 溥款事，己向[?參][?薾]二省談過，無望。興 ### N30 頃又據小池云：溥兄以個人名義請有吉領事紹介，武[?釆]可借小款，請自奪。興咸 ### N32 舊約法可望恢復，梁派見好。北京、滬要人無強硬主張。中山電所部停兵，並電詢公，已登報復電，渠必發表，宜慎。葛、殷、黃屢電，公須覆。[?會][?逵][?境] ### N33 馮極暗昧。又京電：段等議決各省派三人赴京議約法。滬政客早知梁陰謀，詢約法，換得內閣，段爲總統。黃羣到京，[?朞]段變，滬議員卽開會反對。不恢復舊約法，恐[?纍]戰，公暫靜觀。[?會][?城] ### N35 北京召集各省代表議約法，意在消滅約法[?伋]國會。請[?凌]同人速定安全地方自行[開]會，並設法説獨立各省不派代表。[?蓷]鹽款仍未交，現[?黏]不自由。段有襲袁故智之勢，宜由國會議[?嗹]，與民軍外交代表[?奡]言，請外人俟正統一後再交。興 ### V4E 粤派人來，言事急需款。公如重粤，文宜急返，盼先給若干。[?垣][已]入京。公何時乘何船返？請先示。[?覃]文。
Translation
# 共密 (gongmi): English Brice Dudout's translations from his Wenmi page (bdudout.github.io/wenmi/en/gongmi.html, CC BY 4.0), copied 23 Oct 2026 and adjusted where the b21 reading differs (noted per telegram). Holes as in `gongmi_reading.md`. ### N17 President Li has taken office and the general situation is beginning to settle. In my humble view, we must first calm people’s minds and remove coercion. For the most important and urgent matters, please consult secretly with Jiwu, Zu’an and the others, and quickly ask Mr Li to carry out: 1. restore the old Provisional Constitution and the Parliament; 2. issue no amnesty and no order dropping prosecutions; 3. make Duan and the others resign and appoint anew a provisional premier, without readmitting cabinet members who helped Yuan’s rebellion, then, once Parliament meets, form a regular cabinet anew; 4. transfer Wang Zhanyuan and appoint as governor a commander of the people’s army holding strong forces; 5. invite the leading men of the people’s party to Beijing to consult on everything. Moreover, the Japanese authorities have decided not to lend to the Beijing government unless North and South are unified. So Mr Li should not be constrained. For information. — Xing. The 10th. ### N18 Your telegram of the 10th received. If Li and Duan sincerely support the Republic, the people’s party’s demands can naturally be accommodated, and it will not be hard to bring the State onto the proper path of the rule of law. To reach this goal, armed force is needed as support. I fear that for now we cannot let things take their course. The return home will be decided according to circumstances. — Xing. The 11th. ### N23 Brother Ke: Tanaka and Koike have both wired Aoki; […] agreed to a loan for me; please, brother, go in person to press the matter — it is essential. — Zhang Ji. ### N27 About Pu’s funds: we have discussed it with the two provinces of […]: no hope. — Xing. ### N30 Koike has just said again that if our friend Pu, in his own name, asks Consul Ariyoshi to introduce him, a military […] could lend a small sum. Decide for yourself. — Xing. The 15th. ### N32 The old Provisional Constitution can be hoped to be restored; Liang’s faction is favourable. The leading men of Beijing and Shanghai have no hard-line position. Zhongshan has wired his troops to cease fighting and asked your opinion by wire; the reply has already appeared in the press and he will certainly publish it: be careful. Ge, Yin and Huang have wired repeatedly; you must reply. […] ### N33 Feng is very ambiguous. Another telegram from Beijing: Duan and the others have decided that each province will send three men to Beijing to discuss the Constitution. The Shanghai politicians long knew Liang’s schemes: [to] the Constitution, obtain the cabinet in exchange, with Duan as president. Huang Qun has arrived in Beijing; […] Duan has changed; the Shanghai members of Parliament will meet at once to oppose it. If the old Constitution is not restored, we fear fighting. Watch quietly for now. […] ### N35 Beijing is summoning delegates of the provinces to discuss the Constitution, intending to destroy the Constitution and the Parliament. Let our colleagues […] quickly choose a safe place and convene by themselves, and find a way to persuade the independent provinces not to send delegates. The salt revenue has still not been handed over; at present […] is not free. Duan seems to be taking up Yuan’s old tricks; Parliament should deliberate […], and the diplomatic representatives of the people’s army should say […], asking the foreigners to wait until true unification before handing over [the funds]. — Xing. ### V4E (b21: '[?(Xiao)yuan]' for Dudout's '[…]': group 23, 8063 圉, gives 垣 with one digit changed; V4D has 曉垣 going to Beijing; conjecture.) Guangdong has sent someone: the matter is urgent and money is needed. If you care for Guangdong, I, Wen, should go back quickly; I hope you will first advance some funds. [?(Xiao)yuan] has [already] entered Beijing. When are you coming back, and by which ship? Please let me know in advance. […] Wen.
容密, 14 telegrams, June-July 1916
Telegrams on the arms bought in Japan for Zhejiang (Governor Lü Gongwang): about 10,000 rifles, mountain guns and machine guns, ammunition and payment before 30 June, loans and tobacco taxes as security; Japan will not lend to Beijing before North and South are unified; 'no legal solution without armed force'; the meeting at Tang's house; late June, Duan back to three delegates per province.
Transcription
N02 5669 8813 5879 3308 2057 6079 3868 4603 1777 0553 3358 8764 1624 8659 6512 6146 1926 6079 2055 5150 3249 6226 2081 9062 8165 8659 4663 8200 8477 2317 2164 8396 2081 0546 2682 6495 3953 6226 1616 3044 8198 4244 1039 8396 2081 8165 3203 4603 8104 1550 8764 1273 3032 0586 1083 4256 8482 3087 2056 8165 3203 4663 8477 1444 8549 5478 8203 8715 1155 0864 8200 5438 5765 1119 8715 6225 8826 5612 8645 6204 8119 3252 5100 5826 8462 5486 3687 3575 8189 5877 0458 0442 2326 N08 6225 0937 5478 1180 2081 0652 0571 3443 8826 0857 8156 0241 3868 8764 5638 8572 2796 8303 3596 0454 2056 9068 8104 2016 1738 0412 0896 1543 0652 0571 8156 2227 1476 8162 6272 0857 8764 5638 8396 2081 2055 8603 5785 5772 4939 2326 N11 5669 2409 8585 8482 3093 6105 6225 0937 0517 5117 0427 3656 8102 5104 3223 0994 2084 2032 2499 4209 1505 1011 3983 1139 8179 8217 0546 1709 0593 3953 1684 6232 8620 5520 0253 1200 5499 1505 1119 6272 1616 0454 6225 3477 3381 0819 8520 1158 4256 8786 3032 3289 3182 2796 8199 0442 2326 0781 N12 8119 5669 8118 5879 3308 6105 2057 6079 8470 4651 9?26 6079 8463 0652 2326 8352 5765 5745 3983 1139 8138 4466 0679 6481 8396 2081 3203 4603 5478 1880 2011 0513 8252 8715 3087 8468 8143 1121 5805 1209 3032 8878 8200 8281 4156 2796 8265 8189 1486 8171 8217 5218 3824 6225 3477 8200 8231 1486 8102 4350 8199 8156 2227 5826 8462 5486 0519 1578 3203 4603 0510 2081 8294 8104 8754 3717 3263 5785 5100 0442 2326 0781 N14 5669 8813 5879 3308 6105 5015 2036 0241 0586 3297 4441 6398 8596 0427 6417 8352 8104 5424 8200 3089 0844 9084 2249 0278 0475 9084 0117 1081 8270 4770 3725 3032 8601 1874 8520 1880 8482 5765 2081 3203 4603 8158 8764 8715 1173 4332 8265 N19a 5669 3203 5981 8494 8104 4256 0994 3263 0472 8731 8252 1791 8102 8826 6225 5100 2326 N19b 6952 6277 6225 0937 8494 3635 8192 0844 0965 0834 4335 3868 3249 8786 9084 1637 8119 3801 4040 1580 8477 6182 1158 5117 5754 0241 4439 4256 5638 8572 8200 0210 8827 6486 4362 5702 8593 4151 5185 0819 0652 6225 9029 6737 8479 8494 0593 2499 8784 8759 1577 8732 1083 3121 5005 5868 5117 8200 1702 8102 4364 1011 2162 3249 0856 8108 8199 5185 2133 6398 1631 8491 0427 2058 8520 2796 8199 0857 1368 0902 2682 8601 1776 8127 1624 2232 3266 3550 1919 5772 4939 8277 1791 8631 8199 3353 1722 0102 6390 8595 6225 0792 8717 8306 6908 5785 8549 5871 5455 0253 2056 0771 1631 8897 0749 8199 1624 2056 6197 0652 4350 3032 0586 1396 2256 6398 8305 8631 8676 3949 8102 1104 0851 8396 2081 1578 1324 1424 0780 8119 4215 4332 3258 N21 2232 3089 044? 5669 4364 8494 6225 1541 1656 0844 2439 5625 8482 3093 6105 2232 3094 2057 5925 0553 3358 1926 6160 5925 3528 8230 8281 0744 0801 8468 1543 8759 4439 0748 3358 0896 2110 6146 5925 0896 8786 1926 6160 5925 0896 2110 1237 8759 4439 0748 5915 6128 6387 8469 3358 8108 6138 0568 8878 6562 6346 9052 0488 8352 8726 8569 8252 8759 6225 8170 8878 3569 1643 5973 9052 1709 5218 0937 8112 5638 2249 0571 1528 1543 8158 6272 3058 5275 8715 5218 3824 3417 0427 6225 5100 4369 3252 8813 8462 1624 1541 2758 4215 6699 5886 0961 8499 N24 5669 6908 8486 0840 8482 3093 6105 8265 1550 6913 6225 3333 9044 2231 8108 0667 8462 8476 8151 5465 8606 2530 1550 8832 0482 6140 1637 8585 5392 8462 5275 2586 2058 8188 0528 2403 2245 6396 3093 9096 8138 8200 8343 8138 8733 4140 8476 8151 8192 1260 8468 8192 0844 8732 8265 6225 1158 6217 0857 3983 8457 8107 3333 3528 2133 0475 8482 3087 8832 2333 8799 6225 3060 5233 3282 1083 4369 1081 8282 6398 8109 8201 8784 2226 5015 5749 8324 2249 0427 4939 5730 2666 8499 0744 3868 2249 1684 8104 8476 8151 8162 8162 8125 1540 0844 9084 2349 3087 8151 6225 1895 3333 5233 3868 2249 0834 4335 4489 0652 5465 5785 6225 5734 5638 3252 5785 1396 2256 6225 8572 8715 8764 0479 8283 0480 0444 0286 8499 6587 2257 5436 0450 8119 8764 6390 6217 8102 8596 8631 1577 2889 3691 8759 3266 8189 5791 6225 8161 5250 3949 8102 1926 8104 8764 0298 0454 6225 0652 0818 3422 8266 4215 8162 8162 2333 1427 0475 1578 8125 1611 5436 8151 2758 4215 9029 6737 8479 8494 0705 1646 2101 2169 6699 4616 1519 0961 6908 5886 8762 1422 N25 6404 0851 8813 3307 8252 6225 1656 2695 1228 8478 0744 2146 5647 1543 3868 8171 8659 8470 4603 2695 5826 2776 1228 3572 8478 0744 0777 1423 3868 8659 9096 4603 8200 8108 8171 6401 1463 8764 2796 8102 3569 1309 1292 8878 4369 5826 1228 8478 0744 1423 8476 3868 8188 8659 4603 8294 5140 8104 0477 9052 0637 4350 8569 5796 5822 5638 8200 8108 8759 6401 9052 9063 3826 5826 8462 5486 5481 0210 2758 4218 1526 8119 3252 5100 8162 8162 2758 4215 8783 2232 3307 0652 2257 8803 8490 4652 8731 5436 1550 4350 8462 1396 2256 8012 8596 8572 8189 5499 1505 6699 5886 0961 1423 N28 5669 3203 5981 8494 8252 6225 8104 1526 0652 6225 5203 8404 3725 8107 3203 8156 8494 2326 N36 6908 8486 0840 8482 4094 0844 2448 5625 8482 4094 9052 6105 8805 8490 4652 8741 5170 0656 1609 1791 1880 1924 5785 5765 0253 8496 6081 8104 1174 8204 8407 8503 8170 1826 0744 8463 1634 8107 8659 1550 8200 8569 3087 2232 8352 6081 8203 6399 8104 0934 3252 6521 5785 5772 4939 8462 1624 5929 V4B 6908 8486 0840 8482 3393 0844 2439 5625 8494 2232 1880 8179 1476 6346 1708 5178 0546 1631 1239 9093 0637 1624 8645 0637 3680 8520 5150 2249 3868 2249 8179 6903 2084 5797 8200 8840 8201 3121 5005 2104 6255 6298 1919 3672 8788 0519 2686 9098 8781 0625 6947 2299 0856 0469 8199 2661 1000 2084 5721 2058 1572 2255 7409 8352 9083 0115 0902 6413 3983 8102 3569 1139 4074 1577 8764 5118 0839 1422 1631 8759 3266 2257 8204 5005 8107 8138 8199 5392 1569 8783 ?427 2796 8759 3166 0593 5392 8867 8143 5725 2257 8107 8138 8985 3983 2333 2586 2058 5150 2249 5669 9074 0225 1463 3087 2104 820? 3546 8138 5449 1808 6225 5206 2499 9084 1637 5392 8867 8764 8726 0965 0839 4335 3868 2349 8715 3087 5392 8867 8278 6677 4103 8733 8104 3094 5392 8867 9079 8733 4140 0839 6225 8192 0844 0965 0839 2204 8457 8802 6913 3121 8?01 8482 2257 8103 8115 0683 4714 1618 1999 8252 3089 3030 5791 1083 5117 2686 0857 3087 2104 3121 6225 8252 5206 8105 1550 8103 4714 0651 8570 8715 4369 5392 8868 1637 0193 8809 0243 1543 5465 1173 8715 3087 8103 4714 7225 3333 5752 2104 2666 5638 1011 8103 4714 8549 8151 0857 2333 2586 2058 8786 4616 2359 8238 8152 6225 5233 3868 2249 8179 3788 5392 8783 4166 2104 8783 0119 0115 8759 2257 8107 8138 8299 5282 8520 5185 8104 1111 8162 3528 3686 3258 3262 0253 8381 1709 4356 6417 1598 0478 1393 1526 4074 0193 5669 9256 V4D 1880 8179 6340 1408 6671 8342 3207 8498 3289 8520 8457 4350 8790 5873 3443 8826 1179 0546 1631 1624 5275 9044 8803 8731 1684 3068 2169 6699 0652 1578 1608 0211 8365 0844 4420 2861 5374 8786 1678 9029 7494 8476 8151 5886 0546 1709 2032 1056 6197 8179 3087 2237 8204 2900 0741 4215 0844 2231 0674
Decryption
# Output of decode.py (this folder) run 22 Oct 2026 on groups.tsv (Brice Dudout's digit readings), key rongmi. One telegram per block: id, direction, then the decoded characters (□ = a group with an illegible digit or a code not in the telegraph table). Verbatim decoder output, not edited; the published texts with Dudout's notes and translations are on his Wenmi pages. ## N02 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 轉呂都督步鎗約萬枝山砲可望十餘門機鎗正設皽需款在五十蓐以內淅江借款尚無頭緒需時甚久肇慶借款五百萬不日可拗當局意能先由此五百蓐內撥出購付卽戸徂以起運懇卽電商軍務院並盻覆酒公賣章程乞郵寄孝準 ## N08 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 電悉購戍款已屢磋商後交大約可辦到爲保秘密此地不檢查子彈數已屢交涉據云隨後可辦借款正加速進行準 ## N11 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 8, prefix 1369 1378) 轉溯初先生鑒電悉尊見實第一要着急欲歸滬聆教惟經手事件尚未就緒暫難卬身如承賜教懇隨時密電示知弟力所能及當盡瘁爲之孝準庚 ## N12 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 8, prefix 1369 1378) 並轉丢都督鑒步鎗八蔆□鎗六已準備運送經手人芳川願借款百萬購械檳將來卽由其中扣還抵當品以何者爲佳乞擇二件詳細電示以便擇一與之交涉酒公賣對於百萬小款似不合算盼速覆孝準庚 ## N14 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 9, prefix 1369 1378) 轉呂都督鑒袁死大局益艱非切實預備不足以申張國法奠定國基感佩藎籌當効棉力械先運款百萬亦可卽成興佳 ## N19a (Tokyo → Shanghai, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 轉百里兄不能急盼官君來東一商電覆準 ## N19b (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 11, prefix 1369 1378) 齊隹電悉兄等主張恢復舊約皽及國會並籧織新內閣所見遠大若能辦到以外問題自迎刃而解弟已電垣鳳兩兄就滬取各方同意發表鄙見以期一致惟求皽律上之解決非有充實武力爲之後援必無効果仍望浙省積極進行作東南之砥柱垚面分電幹卿俠黃速出鄂贛如此庶有和平之望此間已與當局接洽非俟南北統一憯得借款於摘政府並聞興真 ## N21 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 青山南町三ノ五三, day 13, prefix 1369 1378) 浙申□轉致兄電文曰張潤農先生鑒浙用步銃山砲機關銃究係何年式其數各若干砲彈每門銃彈及機關銃彈每挺各若干醅附革具砲上阮屬品馱靄均完備否前來各電于品種晞量均未詳悉且辦法屢易數亦隨異請卽詳細確實電覆至盻呂公望文特聞驪郛恩元 ## N24 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 青山南町三ノ五三, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 轉黃克強先生鑒佳日黎電硏囑海上巨公入京贊助滠日唐宅開會初議公請濟武九峯溥泉靜生四人以個人名義入京主持其主張同佳電所陳後經再三硏究決定先由唐湯去電略謂盛意至感但非下令取消袁逆偽法實行遵照元年約法暫不入京云云今斌張國淦由京電梁硏謂約法復舊芝已贊速電遲辦盻速接洽電到卽可宣佈宗孰奉元首派赴寧並可面陳一切南方獨立各省乞通電亟謀統一機不可失密電已弛禁併聞云云湯改定於今晚赴京特聞垣鳳兩兄常晤殷汝驪葛敬恩黃郛叩攴 ## N25 (Shanghai → Tokyo, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 頃得呂睢來電曰烟捐全年比較數約二十八萬烟酒牌捐税全年庫收約十四萬以上二項擬可爲一種据押品至酒捐全年收入約九十萬似覺不宜均希與前途酌辦以上各項均圩紩酒公賣賟外特聲明並盻覆云云特聞又浙睢已派吳兆蓮君赴日與公接洽□切到乞賜教驪郛恩收 ## N28 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 14, prefix 1369 1378) 轉百里兄來電不明已電詠儀籌三百交兄準 ## N36 (Shanghai → Tokyo, 三ノ五三, day 16, prefix 1369 1378) 黃克強先繒張滕農先繒均鑒吵兆蓮厫計巷昭東械樨速運如儿鍠不戚代價准于椰年六月三十日以前由浙備鍠付靠不悞盻騙速進行公望銑 ## V4B (Shanghai → Tokyo, day 25, prefix 1369 1378) 黃克強先瞻張潤農兄浙械事據靄木言尚有挽回希望務希竭力設法約法事麻欲逕以命令發表段雖隗極端反對然因受帝黨注律家之煽惑欲避武斷洼□備固執必須經一種手續方可規徨攴有各省派代表三人之議旋又□爲各瘰就議員中選派三人嗣經湯濟武設法轉圜始擬由段□私人資格電詢滬國會議員可否恢徨舊約淦卽由議員佞體署名不用議員團名義徨電主張恢徨沱再呈黎發□先派丁世嶧蕭晉榮來申疏通意見然後由段發電來詢七日丁蕭市剋卽至議哥會報告多數贊成卽由丁蕭嚆硏達段照辦惟丁蕭出京後湯濟武及葛湛侯亠電謂約法事篠議又翻段又堅執各派三人伻説力解不應云究竟真相如偃未臾預料客探明續報轉妄 ## V4D (Shanghai → Tokyo, day -, prefix 1369 1378) 械事青摶高倉皆允盡力再與叅部磋商或尚有望請囑吳君暫留汝驪已於昨夕傖張范王豆及曉垣岊入京郛尚未歸慚間事由浩代理幷聞張海州
Reading
# 容密 (rongmi), 14 telegrams, June-July 1916: reading Re-read 23 Oct 2026 (Claude Opus 5.5; REREAD_BRIEF, batch b21). What it rests on: Brice Dudout's proposed readings on his Wenmi pages (bdudout.github.io/wenmi/en/rongmi.html, fetched 23 Oct 2026; CC BY 4.0, attributed), checked group by group against our independent decoder (`decode.py`) on the digits of his page tables, which are newer than the repository's `groups.tsv` (see `rongmi_reread_log.md`). Every character of the reading is the figure's own value under the key, except: a character in [brackets] is supplied from context (no one-digit variant of its group gives it); [?x] is the figure's value kept but not understood, or a partly carried conjecture; […] is an illegible group. Characters that rest on a one-digit alternate of the group (a digit read differently from the police copy, often 一/二/三) are unbracketed and listed in `rongmi_align.tsv` (kind 'one-digit alternate'). Punctuation is Dudout's. Score of the body: Chinese is not scored by `_check_reading.py`; explicit holes only, one character = one word (`research/reading_audit/b21_wenmi_md.py`): 82/90 sentences clean (0.91), 53 holes in 1307 characters. ## Reading ### N14 轉呂都督鑒：袁死，大局益艱，非切實預備，不足以申張國法、奠定國基。感佩藎籌，當効棉力。械先運，款百萬亦可卽成。興佳 ### N19b 齊、[佳]電悉。兄等主張恢復舊約法及國會，並組織新內閣，所見遠大。若能辦到，以外問題自迎刃而解。弟已電垣、鳳兩兄就滬取各方同意，發表鄙見，以期一致。惟求法律上之解決，非有充實武力爲之後援，必無効果。仍望浙省積極進行，作東南之砥柱。一面分電幹卿、俠黃速出鄂、贛，如此庶有和平之望。此間已與當局接洽，非俟南北統一，[?憯]得借款於[北]政府。並聞。興真 ### N02 轉呂都督：步鎗約萬枝，山砲可望十餘門，機鎗正設法，需款在五十萬以內。[浙]江借款尚無頭緒，需時甚久。肇慶借款五百萬，不日可成。當局意能先由此五百萬內撥出購付，卽[?戸][?徂]以起運。懇卽電商軍務院，並[盼]覆。酒公賣章程乞郵寄。孝準 ### N08 電悉。購械款已屢磋商，後交大約可辦到。爲保秘密，此地不檢查。子彈數已屢交涉，據云隨後可辦。借款正加速進行。準 ### N11 轉溯初先生鑒：電悉。尊見實第一要着，急欲歸滬聆教，惟經手事件尚未就緒，暫難[抽]身。如承賜教，懇隨時密電示知，弟力所能及，當盡瘁爲之。孝準庚 ### N12 並轉[呂]都督鑒：步鎗八[?蔆]，[機]鎗六[…]，已準備運送。經手人芳川願借款百萬購械，[?檳]將來卽由其中扣還。抵當品以何者爲佳？乞擇二件詳細電示，以便擇一與之交涉。酒公賣對於百萬小款似不合算，盼速覆。孝準庚 ### N19a 轉百里兄：不能急，盼官君來東一商。電覆。準 ### N28 轉百里兄：來電不明。已電詠儀籌三百交兄。準 ### N21 [?浙][?申][…]轉致兄電文曰：張潤農先生鑒：浙用步銃、山砲、機關銃究係何年式？其數各若干？砲彈每門、銃彈及機關銃彈每挺各若干？[?醅]附革具、砲上附屬品、馱[?靄]均完備否？前來各電于品種、數量均未詳悉，且辦法屢易，數亦隨異。請卽詳細確實電覆，至[盼]。呂公望 文特聞。驪郛恩元 ### N25 頃得呂督來電曰：烟捐全年比較數約二十八萬；烟酒牌捐税全年庫收約十四萬以上；二項擬可爲一種抵押品。至酒捐全年收入約九十萬，似覺不宜。均希與前途酌辦。以上各項均[?圩][?紩]酒公賣[?賟]外，特聲明，並[盼]覆云云。特聞。又浙督已派吳兆蓮君赴日與公接洽，[一]切到乞賜教。驪郛恩[?收] ### N36 黃克強先[生]、張[潤]農先[生]均鑒：吳兆蓮君[?計][?巷][?昭]東械[?樨]速運，[?如][?儿]款[?不][?戚]代價准于[?椰]年六月三十日以前由浙備款付，[?靠]不悞。[盼][?騙]速進行。公望銑 ### N24 轉黃克強先生鑒：佳日黎電[?硏]囑海上巨公入京贊助。灰日唐宅開會，初議公請濟武、九峯、溥泉、靜生四人以個人名義入京主持，其主張同佳電所陳。後經再三硏究，決定先由唐、湯去電，略謂：盛意至感，但非下令取消袁逆僞法，實行遵照元年約法，暫不入京云云。今[?斌]張國淦由京電梁[?硏]，謂約法復舊，芝已贊，速電遲辦，[盼]速接洽。電到卽可宣佈。[?宗][?孰]奉元首派赴寧，並可面陳一切。南方獨立各省乞通電亟謀統一，機不可失。密電已弛禁。併聞云云。湯改定於今晚赴京。特聞。垣、鳳兩兄常晤。殷汝驪、葛敬恩、黃郛叩[?攴] ### V4B 黃克強先生、張潤農兄：浙械事據青木言，尚有挽回希望，務希竭力設法。約法事[?麻]欲逕以命令發表，段雖[?隗]極端反對，然因受帝黨法律家之煽惑，欲避武斷[?洼][…][?備]固執必須經一種手續方可[?規]復，故有各省派代表三人之議，旋又[…]爲各省就議員中選派三人。嗣經湯濟武設法轉圜，始擬由段[…]私人資格電詢滬國會議員可否恢復舊約法，卽由議員全體署名，不用議員團名義，復電主張恢復，[?沱]再呈黎發[…]。先派丁世嶧、蕭晉榮來申疏通意見，然後由段發電來詢。七日丁、蕭[?市]到，卽至議員會報告，多數贊成，卽由丁、蕭電[?硏]達段照辦。惟丁、蕭出京後，湯濟武及葛湛侯來電謂約法事[?篠]議又翻，段又堅執各派三人之説，力解不應云。究竟真相如何，未能預料，[?客]探明續報。[?轉][?妄] ### V4D 械事青木、高倉皆允盡力，再與參部磋商，或尚有望。請囑吳君暫留。汝驪已於昨夕偕張、范、王[?豆]及曉垣[?岊]入京，郛尚未歸。此間事由浩代理。幷聞。[?張][?海][?州]
Translation
# 容密 (rongmi): English Brice Dudout's translations from his Wenmi page (bdudout.github.io/wenmi/en/rongmi.html, CC BY 4.0), copied 23 Oct 2026 and adjusted where the b21 reading differs (noted per telegram). Holes as in `rongmi_reading.md`. ### N14 To be passed to Governor Lü: Yuan is dead and the general situation is harder. Without serious preparation we cannot uphold the law of the State and lay its foundations. Grateful for your devoted plans, I shall give my modest strength. The arms will be shipped first; the one-million loan can also be concluded at once. — Xing. The 9th. ### N19b Your telegrams of the 8th and 9th received. You advocate restoring the old Provisional Constitution and Parliament and forming a new cabinet: far-sighted. If it can be done, the other questions will solve themselves. I have wired our friends Yuan and Feng to gather everyone’s agreement in Shanghai and publish my view, so that we speak with one voice. But a legal solution will have no effect without sufficient armed force behind it. I still hope Zhejiang will press ahead and be the pillar of the South-East, and at the same time wire Ganqing and Xiahuang separately to march quickly on Hubei and Jiangxi: only then can we hope for peace. Here I have reached an understanding with the authorities: no loan to the Northern government before North and South are unified. For information. — Xing. The 11th. ### N02 To be passed to Governor Lü: rifles, about ten thousand; mountain guns, one may hope for ten or more; machine guns being arranged […]. Funds needed within 500,000. The Zhejiang loan has no lead yet and will take long. The Zhaoqing loan of five million will soon be concluded; the authorities intend first to set aside from these five million the payment for the purchase, then […] ship. Please wire the Military Affairs Council at once to consult, and reply. Please post the regulations of the wine monopoly. — Xiaozhun. ### N08 Telegram received. The funds for buying arms have been discussed several times; deferred delivery can probably be arranged. To keep it secret, there will be no inspection here. The quantity of ammunition has been negotiated several times; they say it can be done afterwards. The loan is being speeded up. — Zhun. ### N11 To be passed to Mr Suchu: telegram received. Your view is indeed the key point; I would like to return to Shanghai at once to hear your advice, but the business in my hands is not settled and I cannot get away for now. If you wish to advise me, please send secret telegrams at any time; whatever is in my power I will do with all my strength. — Xiaozhun. The 8th. ### N12 Also to be passed to Governor Lü: rifles, eight […]; machine guns, six […]: ready for shipment. The intermediary Yoshikawa is willing to lend one million to buy arms, to be repaid later out of that sum. Which security is best? Please choose two and wire details, so that I can pick one and negotiate. Pledging the wine monopoly for a small loan of one million does not seem worthwhile. Reply soon. — Xiaozhun. The 8th. ### N19a To be passed to our friend Baili: we cannot hurry; I hope Mr Guan will come to Japan to discuss. Reply by wire. — Zhun. ### N28 To be passed to our friend Baili: your telegram was unclear. I have already wired Yongyi to raise three hundred for you. — Zhun. ### N21 […] Text of the telegram to be passed on: To Mr Zhang Runnong: the rifles, mountain guns and machine guns for Zhejiang — of what model exactly, and how many of each? How many shells per gun, cartridges per rifle and per machine gun? Are the leather equipment, gun accessories and pack gear all complete? Earlier telegrams did not give types and quantities, and the arrangements changed often, the numbers with them. Please wire full and exact details at once. — Lü Gongwang, the 12th. For information. — Li, Fu, En. The 13th. ### N25 We have just received from Governor Lü a telegram saying: the tobacco tax yields about 280,000 a year; the tobacco and wine licence taxes bring the treasury more than 140,000 a year; these two items could serve as security. The wine tax, about 900,000 a year, does not seem suitable; please settle with the other party. The items above […] apart from the wine monopoly; we state this expressly and await a reply, etc. For information. Also, the Zhejiang governor has sent Mr Wu Zhaolian to Japan to meet you; please advise him on everything when he arrives. — Li, Fu, En. […] ### N36 To Mr Huang Keqiang and Mr Zhang Runnong: Mr Wu Zhaolian […] the arms from Japan […] to be shipped quickly […] funds […]. The price will be paid by Zhejiang before 30 June of this year, without fail. We hope it moves quickly. — Gongwang. The 16th. ### N24 (b21: 'On the 10th' for Dudout's 'On the […]': group 22 read 2520 灰, the day code of the 10th, for 2530 滠.) To be passed to Mr Huang Keqiang: on the 9th President Li wired asking the eminent men of Shanghai to come to Beijing and help. On the 10th a meeting was held at Tang’s house. It was first proposed to ask four men, Jiwu, Jiufeng, Puquan and Jingsheng, to go to Beijing in their personal capacity and take charge, their position being that of the telegram of the 9th. After much study it was decided that Tang and Tang would first wire, saying in substance: “We are deeply grateful, but unless an order abolishes the traitor Yuan’s illegitimate laws and restores the Provisional Constitution of the first year, we will not come to Beijing for now.” Today Zhang Guogan wired Liang from Beijing that the return to the old Constitution has Zhi’s approval; […]; we hope for quick contact. Once the telegram arrives it can be announced. […], sent by the head of State to Nanjing, can explain everything in person. Let the independent southern provinces issue a circular telegram and seek unification at once: the chance must not be lost. The ban on cipher telegrams has been lifted. For your information, etc. Tang has decided to leave for Beijing tonight. For information. We often see our two friends Yuan and Feng. — Yin Ruli, Ge Jing’en, Huang Fu. […] ### V4B To Mr Huang Keqiang and brother Zhang Runnong: on the Zhejiang arms, according to Aoki, there is still hope of saving the deal; please do your utmost. On the Constitution, [Li] wanted to promulgate it directly by decree; Duan, though not utterly opposed, swayed by the legal advisers of the monarchist party and wishing to avoid [the charge of] arbitrariness, insists that some procedure be followed before restoration — hence the idea of three delegates per province, then of three chosen by each province from its parliamentarians. Tang Jiwu (Tang Hualong) then found a compromise: Duan would ask the parliamentarians in Shanghai, in a personal capacity, whether to restore the old Constitution; all would sign, not in the name of the parliamentary group, a reply calling for restoration, to be presented to Li for promulgation. Ding Shiyi and Xiao Jinrong would first come to Shanghai to smooth the way, then Duan would cable his question. On the 7th Ding and Xiao arrived and reported to the parliamentarians’ meeting; the majority agreed, and Ding and Xiao cabled Duan to proceed. But after they left Beijing, Tang Jiwu and Ge Zhanhou (Ge Jing’en) cabled that the agreement on the Constitution had been overturned again: Duan again insists on three delegates per province and refuses. What the truth is cannot be foreseen; we will find out and report further. […] ### V4D As to the arms, Aoki and Takakura have both promised to do their best; negotiating again with the General Staff, there may still be hope. Please ask Mr Wu to stay for now. [Yin] Ruli left for Beijing last night with Zhang, Fan, Wang […] and Xiaoyuan […]; [Huang] Fu is not yet back. Business here is handled by Hao. For your information. […]
辰密, 4 telegrams, June 1916
Telegrams to the Hunanese group's address at 277 Avenue Joffre, Shanghai, including a Hunan division under Zhao Hengti for Li Yuanhong (N16).
Transcription
N05 2777 6162 6736 9608 2254 8435 7101 7392 1909 8735 6788 9608 5620 4667 9950 9997 9847 9378 5499 7659 3231 3294 6355 6564 9794 9527 6733 2202 5620 5487 9519 7576 9453 8735 9881 5430 3359 4220 N13 8449 3255 1522 9952 9608 2254 4278 1345 8438 9383 9337 5473 2114 1863 2120 3840 4920 4123 9900 8168 9950 9958 7998 7221 6738 2912 9907 8634 4127 8735 9830 2114 9970 9970 9926 7950 3348 5903 9388 8373 3294 9388 3104 8988 2740 9320 7885 5692 8442 3659 7475 5134 7684 5511 5903 5475 7339 7876 8294 1863 3303 7218 6307 9320 9926 8592 3454 5292 8169 5321 9900 8168 2740 9464 2158 8461 1845 7313 5450 2655 9697 7339 3101 5915 9987 2114 5292 4220 N16 9947 2777 4651 1522 8449 3232 9670 2254 1345 9670 1906 6413 9730 9950 9991 8317 9378 1907 9672 9519 7418 9851 7998 9958 7316 8512 3527 2915 8708 9425 4729 5903 1345 9670 7736 9757 9700 9914 9385 8970 6425 5356 9957 4626 9672 9378 9313 4239 6283 6736 4924 9213 2495 3339 6567 9749 9676 2718 4626 4707 9672 9950 8317 9859 9730 1345 9670 1647 2639 6736 9115 9950 8470 4989 9696 9519 8996 9907 5620 9378 2726 9590 7256 9683 2114 3294 9388 3104 8988 2740 9320 7885 9858 7475 5134 5511 2114 9950 4403 7218 2684 3527 6413 6219 N26 9986 9859 9952 5455 9607 9933 5455 2481 6413
Decryption
# Output of decode.py (this folder) run 22 Oct 2026 on groups.tsv (Brice Dudout's digit readings), key chenmi. One telegram per block: id, direction, then the decoded characters (□ = a group with an illegible digit or a code not in the telegraph table). Verbatim decoder output, not edited; the published texts with Dudout's notes and translations are on his Wenmi pages. ## N05 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 3, prefix -) 轉烈武兄鑒山東方面如欲兄當統一事任可直承諾請溥泉偕劃此間當盡力援助如何盻覆興 ## N13 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 9, prefix 6591 1378) 小詠鳳三兄鑒致黎岑及各省電頗難著筆苟主張一不恐有歧趨之嫌若如來電云云人必視爲取巧請取護國軍同意畎尊處擬稿拍發爲盼日態度頗觀望滬同人宜表示強硬主張軍務院尤須明白近兩日變狀乞電示興 ## N16 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 10, prefix 6591 1378) 並轉組鳳小諸公鑒黎公非準備一二師可靠兵力政令恐不易實行趙夷午素爲黎公所信倚今又在湯督下練兵可否與濟武等商量設法俾其迅練精兵一師以備黎公驅遣武器一層竭全力圖之當可辦到昨克電請取護國軍同意代擬稿發電一羶望速行準灰 ## N26 (Tokyo → Shanghai, day 13, prefix 6591 1378) 九以三百元交百里準
Reading
# 辰密 (chenmi), 4 telegrams, June 1916: reading
Written 23 Oct 2026 (Claude Opus 5.5, verification 4) from `chenmi_decryption.md` (our `decode.py` on Brice Dudout's digit
readings in `../groups.tsv`, key chenmi; verbatim decoder output, unpunctuated). Every character is the figure's own
value under the key, except: `[x]` supplied (盻 → [盼], as in rongmi: the recurring look-alike, no one-digit variant
gives 盼); `[?x]` the figure's value kept but not understood. Punctuation is mine; Dudout's own punctuated texts and
translations are on his Wenmi page (bdudout.github.io/wenmi/en/chenmi.html) and were not used for this reading.
Score: Chinese is not scored by `_check_reading.py`; explicit holes, one character = one word, as in
`research/reading_audit/b21_wenmi_md.py`: see the profile entry's review note.
## Reading
### N05
轉烈武兄鑒：山東方面如欲兄當統一事任，可直承諾。請溥泉[?偕]劃此間，當盡力援助。如何？[盼]覆。興
### N13
小詠鳳三兄鑒：致黎岑及各省電頗難著筆。苟主張[?一不]，恐有歧趨之嫌；若如來電云云，人必視爲取巧。請取護國軍同意，[?畎]尊處擬稿拍發爲盼。日態度頗觀望，滬同人宜表示強硬主張，軍務院尤須明白。近兩日變狀乞電示。興
### N16
並轉組鳳小諸公鑒：黎公非準備一二師可靠兵力，政令恐不易實行。趙夷午素爲黎公所信倚，今又在湯督下練兵，可否與濟武等商量設法，俾其迅練精兵一師，以備黎公驅遣？武器一層，竭全力圖之，當可辦到。昨克電請取護國軍同意代擬稿發電，一[?羶]望速行。準灰
### N26
九以三百元交百里。準
## Notes
- N05 偕劃: 籌劃 (to plan) would fit; no one-digit variant checked here.
- N13 一不: the sense wants 不一 ("if our positions are not one"); the figures give the two characters in this order.
- N13 畎: the sense wants 由 ("let your office draft and send it").
- N16 羶: the sense wants 節 or 層 ("on this point"); 灰 after 準 is the date code (10th).Translation
# 辰密 (chenmi), 4 telegrams, June 1916: English Translation of `chenmi_reading.md` (23 Oct 2026, Claude Opus 5.5), same holes. Names as in NOTES.md and Dudout's notes: 興 = Huang Xing; 烈武 = Li Liejun; 溥泉 = Zhang Ji; 黎 = Li Yuanhong; 岑 = Cen Chunxuan; 趙夷午 = Zhao Hengti; 濟武 = Tang Hualong; 湯督 = Governor Tang (Tang Xiangming). ## Translation ### N05 Forward to Brother Liewu: if the Shandong side wishes you to take charge of unification, you may accept at once. Ask Puquan to [?plan] it together here; we shall help with all our strength. What do you think? [Awaiting] your reply. Xing. ### N13 To the three brothers Xiao, Yong and Feng: the telegram to Li, Cen and the provinces is very hard to write. If our positions [?are not one], there is the risk of seeming to go different ways; if it is written as your telegram says, people will surely take it for opportunism. Please obtain the agreement of the National Protection Army and [?let] your office draft and send it. Japan's attitude is very much wait-and-see; the comrades in Shanghai should show a firm position, and the Military Affairs Council above all must be clear. Please telegraph the changes of the last two days. Xing. ### N16 Also forward to Messrs Zu, Feng and Xiao: unless Li prepares one or two divisions of reliable troops, his government's orders will hardly be carried out. Zhao Yiwu has always been trusted by Li and is now training troops under Governor Tang; could you consult Jiwu and the others and find a way for him to train one division of picked troops quickly, to be at Li's command? As for weapons, we shall try with all our strength, and it should be possible. Yesterday Ke telegraphed asking that the National Protection Army's agreement be obtained and the telegram drafted and sent on its behalf; [?on this point] I hope you act quickly. Zhun, [10th]. ### N26 Jiu: give three hundred yuan to Baili. Zhun.
Translation: chenmi.html
Key: key.md
08 Sources
- Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR), Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, series 特定人ノ発受郵便物取調: B03050089200, B03050089300, B03050089400, B03050089500, B03050089900, B03050090000.
- Brice Dudout, Wenmi (October 2026, CC BY 4.0): 共密, 容密, 辰密 and “June 1916: what Huang Xing’s telegrams say”; email of 19 October 2026.
- Decoders, digit files and controls: github.com/bdudout/wenmi, solver/numeric1916 (
verify.pyreproduces the 32 raw texts and scores each key against random keys and shuffled digits). - Hsueh Chun-tu (薛君度), ed., 黃興等電稿, Huang Xing’s telegram drafts of May–October 1916, as cited by Brice Dudout.
- Related pages here, each with a different system: Sun Yat-sen’s intercepted telegrams, 1916–17 (code condensers) and Huang Xing to Lin Hu and Li Genyuan, 25 May 1916 (romanised kana).
The digit streams copied from Brice Dudout’s repository (groups.tsv, ct_*.txt), the independent decoder and its output, and the notes are in the repository under targets/numeric1916/. The JACAR scans stay in his repository.