In the afternoon of the next day, Ning Zhiheng packed up and went to the customs wharf, and when he arrived, the wharf was already crowded with people.

A large number of sergeants and guards around the area put the cordon far away, and it was strictly forbidden for idlers to approach, and those who could wait on the dock platform were all high-level Japanese officials in Shanghai and high-ranking officials of the Shanghai puppet government.

Seeing Ning Zhiheng appear, a group of people immediately surrounded him, and Iwai Jianyi also hurriedly beckoned Ning Zhiheng to wait together, and several leading figures in Shanghai took the opportunity to talk and inquire about relevant news.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the cruise ship from the ocean entered the Wusongkou Customs, docked at the wharf, and the members of the envoy disembarked in turn, led by one person, about 50 years old, of medium stature, with a good countenance, white sideburns, and broad thick eyebrows, flashing a shrewd and deep gaze, this person was Hidetoshi Shimizu, vice minister of foreign affairs.

Everyone stepped forward together, Iwai Keni took a few steps first, bowed, saluted Hidetoshi Shimizu, and introduced everyone, the first one was naturally Fujiwara Tomohito.

When Shimizu Hideshou knew that the young man in front of him was Fujiwara Tomohito, he immediately raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Fujiwara-kun? Duke Fujiwara's most valued son? Haha, when we met today, it was really extraordinary! ”

Ning Zhiheng nodded hurriedly when he heard this, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency has won the award, it is all your uncle's wrong love, Zhiren is ashamed and dare not take it, please take care of it in the future!" ”

"Haha, that's too polite, when I came, Duke Fujiwara also asked me to bring you a letter, and we'll talk about it later."

The two of them talked briefly for a few words, and then continued to introduce the other personnel, and behind him were Akisuke Hashimoto and Hayabusa Ohara.

Both councillors are older than Shimizu Hidetoshi, but they are straight, energetic, and elegant, and have the style of an elder.

Both of them are members of the House of Nobles, with prominent status, and Ning Zhiheng also greeted him politely, and the two of them were obviously impressed by Ning Zhiheng, both of them had a cordial attitude and talked warmly.

This delegation was quite numerous, in addition to the three parliamentarians, there were also some government officials and entourage, and it took a lot of time for both sides to finish their respective salutes, and the group got into the car and drove towards the consulate.

Iwai Kenyi had already arranged everything in advance, and as soon as the welcoming ceremony was over, everyone was arranged to enter the banquet hall, and the banquet began immediately.

This time, the banquet was of a very high standard, and almost all the leading figures and high-class people in Shanghai rushed to the banquet, during which the banquet was staggered, and the atmosphere was very warm.

The banquet went on for a while, and Shimizu Hideju signaled to Ning Zhiheng to enter the elegant room under Iwai Kenyi's arrangement.

The two men sat cross-legged, the waiter served tea and withdrew, and then slowly closed the barrier door, isolating the noise outside, and the room fell silent for a moment.

Shimizu Yingshou took out a letter from home and pushed it in front of Ning Zhiheng, and said: "Duke Fujiwara misses you very much, and often mentions you in front of people, saying that it is not easy for you to struggle alone in China. ”

"Thank you uncle for your concern!" Ning Zhiheng bowed, then took the letter, tore open the seal, and took out the letter to watch.

In the past two years, Ning Zhiheng and Fujiwara Hirofumi have also been in contact from time to time, but both of them are used to communicating with their families, and they will use the radio unless there is an emergency, but all this time, nothing major has happened to alarm Fujiwara Hirofumi.

There is nothing special about the content of the letter, as usual, it is some common trivial matters and mutual greetings, but at the end of the letter, Fujiwara Hirofumi asked Ning Zhiheng to cooperate with Shimizu Hidetoshi's trip to China, and also specially pointed out that Ning Zhiheng used his good relationship with the military to provide assistance to the envoys.

After Ning Zhiheng read the letter, he immediately said to Qing Shui Yingshou: "Zhiren will definitely do his best to assist, everything is subject to Your Excellency's arrangement!" ”

Seeing Ning Zhiheng's attitude, Qing Shui Yingshou nodded with satisfaction, laughed, and said: "Zhiren, our two families have been friends for a hundred years, regardless of each other, you don't have to be too polite, I believe you also know a little about the purpose of coming to China this time, right?" ”

Ning Zhiheng replied in a deep voice: "I have only heard about it, Your Excellency, is the situation really so serious?" ”

"Indeed!" Shimizu Hideshou nodded solemnly, "This time the imperial meeting, the military headed by Lu Xiang, taking advantage of the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, suddenly made trouble and had an arrogant attitude, which caught the cabinet off guard, and now the military power has expanded too fast, which has completely exceeded our expectations, if you want to control the situation so that it will not get out of control, you must master a large number of troops in China, at least let those bastards have scruples, otherwise they will put their hands into the cabinet, and the situation of us Chinese will be even more difficult." ”

"Cabinet? Does the military still want to control the cabinet? How dare they rebel? Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but look suspicious.

"Why don't you dare? Now that the domestic environment is getting worse and worse, the whole country has a lot of accusations against the cabinet, and the military is even more advocating the spirit of bushido, fooling the people, and building momentum for the upper position, and now the Konoe cabinet is oppressed and does not dare to speak out, and if it continues in this form, the guy who picks up garbage is likely to become the new prime minister, and at that time, the prime minister and the prime minister will have two positions, and the military power and political power will be combined, so will there be room for us to speak? ”

The guy who picks up garbage in Shimizu Hidetoshi's mouth naturally refers to Lu Xiang Tojo, who is nicknamed the garbage picker by the nobles because he was born a commoner and is thrifty.

But now it seems that this guy who picks up garbage will soon ascend to the throne and become the most powerful minister under one person and above ten thousand people, you must know that the successive prime ministers are all outstanding people from aristocratic backgrounds, which is a dangerous signal for the nobles.

Ning Zhiheng frowned and said, "Are you too worried?" How could the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet let a soldier serve as a soldier, this is something that has never happened before, and His Majesty the Emperor will not agree to it! ”

"The situation is forced, anything can happen, especially the outbreak of this world war, so that these reckless men in military uniforms get carried away, and if we want to win in this world war, we must give them enough benefits, this is the most important thing."

Shimizu Hidetoshi couldn't help but sigh, he and his colleagues in the House of Nobles were full of worries about the current political situation in Japan, and they were also helpless about the decline of aristocratic power, but Japan needed war, and if it needed to win the war, it had to rely on the army, which required finding a balance and trying to maintain it, for which they had to pay a heavy price.

Shimizu Hideshou continued: "I heard from the Duke that Zhiren, you have a good network in the Central China Army, especially in Shanghai and Nanjing, I saw the attitude of several generals of the military towards you today, it seems that you are doing a good job here." ”

At today's welcome ceremony, all the local military generals were also present, but they were surrounded by Fujiwara Tomohito, which made Shimizu Hidetoshi look up to this long-known Fujiwara family child.

Ning Zhiheng smiled slightly, in the past few years, he has fed these powerful generals around him with money, which is also the foundation for him to be able to have such a solid position in Shanghai, of course, he is quite confident in this.

"Please rest assured, I have a full understanding of the generals in East China, and they are all loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and the House of Nobles!"

"Got it!" Shimizu Hideju suddenly showed a look of joy, Fujiwara Tomohito was so confident, obviously he must have some confidence, "I heard, you also have an uncle, Lieutenant General Junpei Uehara in charge of the intelligence department of the dispatch army?" ”

"Yes!" Ning Zhiheng nodded, "My uncle and I met in the early years, when I came to Shanghai from China, thanks to his care, Zhiren has today's situation, if Your Excellency is interested, I can be an intermediary for you to see, he will be very happy!" ”

"Good!"

Shimizu Yingshou couldn't help but laugh, and immediately invited: "As far as I know, your uncle is a powerful person, and there are enough allies in the dispatch army, Fujiwara-kun, this trip to Nanjing will be hard for you!" ”

"Dare to disobey!" Ning Zhiheng paused.

Shimizu Yingshou and others stayed in Shanghai for two days, and under Ning Zhiheng's arrangement, they had in-depth contact with several generals of the military, and the harvest was very good, which greatly increased the confidence of Shimizu Yingshou and others.

However, the main destination of this trip was Nanjing, which was the command center of the dispatch army, and Ning Zhiheng was invited by Qing Shui Yingshou to go together.

A few days later, the envoys and Ning Zhiheng and his entourage boarded a special military train and headed for Nanjing.