After the fall of Wuhan, Ta Kung Pao moved its headquarters to Chongqing, where Zhang Jiluan presided over the work, while Hu Zhengzhi served as the editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong bureau. There is no distinction between high and low positions between the two, and they are both very important. The Chongqing headquarters focuses on domestic affairs, while the Hong Kong office focuses on international news.

When Zhou Hexuan was still in Chengdu, he called Zhang Jiluan, Cheng Sheme, Zhang Hatshui, and Shi Liangcai, and asked them to meet at the Zhou Mansion in Chongqing on March 10.

On the second day of February, the dragon raised its head.

This is the "Green Dragon Festival" in the traditional lunar calendar, and it is also the legendary "Land Festival". Whether it is the birthday of the dragon god or the land lord, anyway, today is to be sacrificed, in ancient times, the queen sent rice, and the emperor personally ploughed to ensure a year's agricultural harvest.

There are several farmlands near the Zhou Mansion, the wheat is lush, and the rape flowers are about to wither, looking at that it is a bumper harvest year.

Chengshe and Zhang Hatshui walked on the mountain trail, admiring the spring colors all the way.

"Xinyuan, what did you say Mr. Zhou asked us for?" I asked.

Zhang Hatshui smiled: "Let's have an ordinary party." ”

Cheng She shook his head and said, "I don't think so, his tone on the phone is a little anxious." ”

"No matter how much he cares, the Zhou family's food is good, and today I can have a good meal again." Zhang hated the water and said.

The two entered through the back gate of the Zhou Mansion, and when they came to the living room, they found that Shi Liangcai and Zhang Jiluan were also there.

Shi Liangcai greeted with a smile: "Come and see, this is the photo that Ming Cheng brought back from the Fushun Confucian Temple, it's incredible." ”

"What photo?" Zhang Hatshui leaned over.

"Naked boy," Zhang Jiluan said, "how strange it is on the roof of the Chongsheng Shrine." ”

Several people circulated the photos in amazement, and speculated about the origin of the naked child, but they still failed to solve the mystery.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Hatshui suddenly asked, "Brother Mingcheng, you asked us to come today to see the photos?" ”

Zhou Hexuan suddenly restrained his smile, shook his head and said, "No, there is something else important, I need the help of your gentlemen." ”

"Please...... Ahem, ahem! Zhang Jiluan coughed repeatedly, his health was not very good.

Zhou Hexuan told the situation of the arrest of Zhuang Ding in detail, and said solemnly: "I plan to make an investigation report and send reporters to Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Henan, and Guangdong provinces to collect detailed data on the signs of Zhuang Ding from the national government. ”

As early as 1939, the arrest of Zhuangding had provoked several popular uprisings in various provinces, but on the whole it was not too bad.

Especially in the early two years of the Anti-Japanese War, the recruits mainly volunteered to join the army. Around 1939, the lottery began, that is, each family drew lots to decide who would join the army, except for a few areas that were eager to make meritorious contributions, most of the situation was relatively normal, and the mortality rate of strong men rarely exceeded 10%.

But this thing is getting more and more intense, because the government's control over the grassroots and the army is extremely poor, which has led many people to become more and more emboldened and begin to use the army as a tool for profit. In addition, in 1940, the number of conscripts suddenly increased, and the depreciation of the legal tender and the soaring prices, the conscription funds allocated by the government were not enough, and there was not much left after being embezzled layer by layer, and even the food money on the way could not be guaranteed, so the mortality rate of the strong men increased geometrically.

According to Jiang Menglin's memoirs, in the summer of 1941, he visited a camp for strong men, and 700 strong men walked from Qujiang, Guangdong Province to Guiyang, and only 17 of them died—no one escaped on the way, because the land was thousands of miles away, and even if they escaped, they would die.

Jiang Menglin should have encountered a special case, after all, the 97.5% mortality rate of strong men is too terrifying (the soldiers were too lazy to boil water for them to drink, and they were not allowed to make their own fires, so they drank raw water on the road and collectively suffered from dysentery, and it was naturally impossible to administer medicine to doctors when they got sick).

All of you here are people from the press, and they have some understanding of the situation of Zhuang Ding, but they only stay in the old impressions of the previous two years, and have not yet gained a new understanding of this year's situation.

Cheng She said: "There are not enough reporters in Libao, not to mention other provinces, even in Sichuan. ”

Zhang Hatshui said with a smile: "I'll go to Hunan or Guangxi in person, and I will take it as a way to collect wind along the way." ”

Shi Liangcai said: "This news perspective is a bit interesting, and the "Declaration" can send three reporters to interview. ”

Zhang Jiluan said: "Ta Kung Pao also sent three reporters. ”

Obviously, none of these four people have attracted attention, because the country needs soldiers to fight, and there is no way to catch strong men.

Zhou Hexuan didn't deliberately convince them, and he would know that it was powerful when the reporter came back from the interview. "That's how I planned, sending three reporters from each province to cover the Zhuangding shelter along the way, in the name of Red Cross staff," he said. In any case, the identity of the reporter should not be revealed, and everything he saw and heard should be recorded, and then he returned to Chongqing to summarize it. ”

Cheng She smiled bitterly and said, "There are really not so many reporters to send to "Libao". ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "If there are not enough reporters, we will recruit another one, but the reporters sent out must be reliable and calm." ”

"Okay, you're also a shareholder, you have the final say." I didn't refuse again.

Zhang Hatshui said: "I will go to Hunan in person. ”

"I'll settle the Red Cross identity of the journalists." Shi Liangcai said, he is the vice president of the Red Cross Society of China.

"Then please!"

Zhou Hexuan said and emphasized: "I remind reporters once again that reporters should not publish articles without authorization, because this will affect the enthusiasm of the people to join the army and serve the country, and will also seriously hit the morale of the officers and soldiers on the front line." ”

"Understood!" Everyone listened to Zhou Hexuan's solemn statement, and they all began to pay attention to it.

Reporters from the three newspapers were quickly dispatched, and in less than half a month, Zhou Hexuan received his first letter from reporters.

The reporter, who was in charge of covering the eastern Sichuan region, said in the letter:

"Mr. Zhou...... The day after my departure, I came to Wanzhou, where there happened to be a troop from Xiangxi...... My Red Cross status made them let their guard down, and I had medicine with me, so they held me with great respect. The leader also asked me about the way to buy medicines, saying that he wanted to buy some special drugs and resell them by the way...... I was shocked by the tragic situation of the strong men, most of them were drawn into the army, but the settling-in allowance for each person was only 1 yuan (1 yuan of legal currency, not the current ocean)......"

"I inquired again about the men who sent the troops, and they did not hide it...... Sending Zhuang Ding from Xiangxi to Chongqing, the state government allocated 3 yuan for each Zhuang Ding's food expenses along the way, which was barely enough two years ago. But with the rise in prices, the food cost of 3 yuan is not enough to make porridge and drink. However, the commander of the local regimental management area actually deducted 1.8 yuan per person, leaving only 1.2 yuan for the food of Zhuangding, and the remaining 1.2 yuan for food expenses was deducted by the people who sent the soldiers......"

"The strong men have been climbing mountains and mountains for a long time, and their physical exertion is already serious, but they can only drink a small bowl of gruel every day. The night in the mountains was unusually cold, and the regimental management area did not prepare enough cold-proof things, and many strong men were frozen and hungry and soon fell ill. The sick were not treated at all, and they would be whipped and urged to walk, and they would be abandoned on the side of the road if they could not walk......"

"This team of sending troops, when they set off from Xiangxi, there were 800 strong men, and when they arrived in Wanzhou, there were only 648 people left, and all of them were weak, and nearly ......half of them were sick."

"Mr. Zhou, I will continue to interview...... Due to the inconvenience of communication, all interview materials will be delivered when you return to Chongqing, so please wait for it. ”

After reading the letter, Zhou Hexuan was relieved.

Fortunately, the mortality rate of Zhuangding is less than 20%, which has exceeded Zhou Hexuan's expectations.