Zhou Mansion.

The correspondents of "Libao" and "Ta Kung Pao" were sitting in the meeting room at the moment, waiting for Zhou Hexuan to express his views on the "Xi'an Incident."

The head of state was detained by the military, and the matter was so big that newspapers everywhere could not pay attention to it.

"Take it, and publish it as such." Zhou Hexuan wrote an impromptu commentary and handed it to the correspondents sent by the two newspapers.

When the correspondent of "Libao" got the article and read it, he saw that the title was "The Possibility, Criticality, and Rationality of the Peaceful Settlement of the Incident." The correspondent was surprised when he read it: "Mr. Zhou, don't you condemn it in the article?" ”

"Everything has happened, is it useful to condemn? What matters is how it is resolved. Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Decades later, people naturally believed that launching the "Xi'an Incident" was correct and would be beneficial to the country and the nation. But at this moment, the wind of public opinion is tilting to the side of the central government and Lao Jiang, and all walks of life are openly criticizing Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng.

Even Zhu Ziqing, Wen Yiduo and other patriotic and democratic figures jointly drafted a manifesto criticizing Zhang Xueliang. The presidents and professors of many universities in Nanjing, Beiping, and Shanghai, as well as academic institutions such as the Academia Sinica and the Beijing Research Institute, have sent telegrams to the whole country, or sent telegrams to Zhang Xueliang to severely condemn them.

More than 100 newspapers and news agencies, including "Declaration", "Ta Kung Pao", and "Yishi Bao", jointly issued a joint declaration of the press on the current situation, and another 217 newspapers jointly sent a telegram to attack Zhang Xueliang. In addition, more than 100 social groups have expressed concern about the current situation, and more than half of them condemned Zhang Xueliang's military admonition.

People with a little vision and thinking ability were frightened by the "Xi'an Incident". Even if Chang Kaishen is no longer popular with the people, he will always be the head of state, and once it is not handled well, China will usher in a new round of large-scale civil war.

Internationally, all countries sided with Chiang, including Germany, the Soviet Union, and Italy. The only one who is excited and happy is Japan, which is eager for the resumption of the Chinese civil war.

Judging from the current public opinion at home and abroad, it is undoubtedly beneficial to Chang Kaishen, and the "Xi'an Incident" must be resolved peacefully.

The key to a peaceful settlement lies with Zhang Xueliang, who is at the center of the storm and the link between the forces of all parties. Therefore, he chose to sacrifice himself and used himself as a weight to maintain the outcome of the negotiations, and personally escorted Chang Kaishen out of Xi'an, and has been under house arrest for life.

In fact, the negotiations did not end normally, because Lao Chiang refused to sign it, and only promised a gentleman's agreement. Under these circumstances, all the participants were reluctant to let the tiger return to the mountain, but Zhang Xueliang quietly let Lao Jiang go without concealing his allies.

This is probably the best solution, and if we continue to force Chang Kaishen to sign, it is likely to cause a major war, and it may also split the central government in Nanjing.

After regaining his freedom, Lao Jiang really betrayed his promise, not only put Zhang Xueliang under house arrest, but also dispatched the Central Army to attack the northwest, but the real war did not start.

The reason why the fight could not start is very simple: during the negotiations on the Xi'an Incident, Lao Chiang occupied the advantage of public opinion at home and abroad. However, he later reversed his word and did not abide by his promise to unanimously resist Japan, and was immediately scolded by all sectors of society, and even European and American countries accused him of messing around, and the opposition within the Kuomintang was also very strong, and Wang Zhaoming took the opportunity to return to the political arena.

Under these circumstances, Lao Chiang did not dare to really fight at all - the real purpose of his march to the northwest was not to destroy the Red Army, but to annex the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army by taking advantage of the situation. Lao Chiang even ordered the opening of trade to the Red Army base areas, the resumption of some postal and telecommunications services, and the lifting of the military blockade of Yan'an to a certain extent.

A gentleman's agreement is also an agreement, and sometimes it is even more effective than a formally signed agreement.

Zhang Xueliang is very smart, he saw this, maybe he has experienced too much and become mature.

The generals of the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army were very dissatisfied with Lao Jiang's refusal to sign, and reacted to Zhang Xueliang: "We will do it for you with our heads, why didn't you even sign in the end?" Zhang Xueliang replied: "Your political consciousness is not as high as mine, although Chang Kaishen was arrested, his political strength is still there." Since we want to let him go and praise him as a leader, then force him to sign, and he will regret it then, and it is good to ask for a gentleman's agreement. ”

You must know that the background of the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident was that Lao Jiang gathered 30 divisions of his descendants, plus the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army jointly encircled and suppressed the Red Army. If it weren't for the detention of Chiang and then the release of Chiang, I don't know how much food, how much materials would be spent, and how many soldiers and civilians would have been killed or wounded.

This incident successfully avoided a civil war with hundreds of thousands of troops, only the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army fell victims, and were gradually divided and disintegrated by Lao Chiang afterwards, while the Red Army won a respite and preserved the vitality of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party against Japan.

Zhou Hexuan sent the two correspondents away, and the servant immediately came to report that there was a visit from the same prison outside the door.

Seeing Wang Er again, Zhou Hexuan felt a little surprised, he had long forgotten the thief he met in the Nanjing Detention Center, and asked curiously: "What is the important matter of the three visits?" ”

"Mr. Zhou, we are here to take refuge in you," Wang Er was not polite, and poured tea with a kettle, "I heard that you are in Sichuan for disaster relief, and we also brought 1,000 loads of relief food, and those grains were handed over to the people of the Relief Society in Fengjie." ”

Zhou Hexuan hugged his fists and said: "On behalf of the victims of the Sichuan disaster, I would like to thank the three righteous soldiers. However, I don't want to be a king or hegemon, and I don't plan to establish a gang organization, so I'm afraid there's nothing to turn to. ”

Yuan Wujiu said: "Mr. Zhou's words are wrong, corrupt officials and corrupt officials are rampant in Sichuan, you can't be busy alone, we can help cut off corrupt officials and punish bullies!" ”

"I admire Mr. Wang Yaqiao very much," Zhou Hexuan's tone changed and he said bluntly, "However, I don't believe in his set." Whether it is assassination or anarchism, it will not help to save the world, and even disrupt the normal social order. ”

Zheng Rentong smiled and asked: "Then Mr. Zhou thinks that the current social order is normal?" If the way of heaven is unfair, it should be done for heaven; If there is social injustice, someone should come forward! ”

"And then?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"What, then?" Zheng Rentong didn't understand.

Zhou Hexuan said: "If you kill a corrupt official, another corrupt official will emerge." When you kill one traitor, another traitor will emerge. When will it be finished? ”

Yuan Wujiu slapped the table and said: "Killing a corrupt official can scare many people into not daring to be corrupt officials." Killing a traitor can scare many people into not daring to be a traitor! ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said to Zheng Rentong: "This Mr. Zheng should also be a scholar, I must have heard of how Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang punished corrupt officials." Those who embezzled more than 60 taels of silver were tortured by skinning and grass, and as a result, corrupt officials were killed more and more. So much so that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't dare to kill anymore, because there were not enough officials, so he could only let the corrupt officials continue to work. Sometimes, when the government adjudicates cases, the kneeling prisoners in the hall wear shackles, and the officials in charge of trying the cases in the hall also wear shackles. Several methods of killing corrupt officials are more powerful, or is Zhu Yuanzhang's means of killing corrupt officials more powerful? ”

"This ......" Zheng Rentong's tone froze, and he said helplessly, "We are naturally inferior to Ming Taizu." ”

Wang Er asked curiously: "Why does Zhu Yuanzhang kill more and more corrupt officials?" ”

"The problem of system and atmosphere," Zhou Hexuan explained, "In terms of system, Zhu Yuanzhang was born from a hard background, and the salary set for officials was too low. The normal salaries of officials can only barely support their wives and children, but they can't support their servants, let alone maintain social expenses, so they can only make money through corruption. In terms of atmosphere, there are many problems left over from the Yuan Dynasty, and corruption is generally regarded as a common thing. ”

Yuan Wujiu asked: "What does Mr. Zhou think is the problem of corrupt officials in China today?" I read your "Dog Official", and I was so angry that I couldn't sleep for a few days, and the officialdom in you was so dark! ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The power of officials cannot be constrained in the system, atmosphere, and financial problems, and the central and local governments cannot issue money. And conscience is the most unreliable, so it is natural that corrupt officials will run rampant. ”

"If you don't rely on killing, then how can you solve it?" Yuan Wujiu asked.

Zhou Hexuan said: "To establish a clean and efficient government, we should thoroughly solve the problem from both institutional and financial aspects. ”

Zheng Rentong sneered: "With the current Nanjing government, I'm afraid they won't be able to do it in 100 years." ”

"You used to play for Chen Jitang in Guangdong, can he do it in the local government?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Zheng Rentong said: "Our Axe Gang did not take refuge in Chen Jitang, but only cooperated with him to fight against Lao Jiang. Besides, Chen Jitang has governed Guangdong quite well, at least the people have not been exploited too much. ”

Zhou Hexuan waved his hand and said: "Chen Jitang did not desperately exploit the people, because he has stable financial resources. Tungsten ore is the most important military resource in the world today, not much worse than oil. China is the world's largest producer of tungsten ore, and China's largest tungsten mine is in Jiangxi, so Lao Jiang wants to desperately encircle and suppress the Red Army, in addition to political factors, nothing more than staring at Jiangxi's tungsten mine. China's second largest tungsten mine is in Guangdong, and Chen Jitang can feed several Sichuan provinces with the money he earns from selling tungsten ore every year, so he does not have to exploit the people, and even builds an air force that can fight against the central government. ”

"I see." Zheng Rentong can be regarded as a long insight.

Yuan Wujiu asked: "The Nanjing government can't do it, and neither can Chen Jitang, so which government does Mr. Zhou think can solve the problem of corrupt officials." ”

Zhou Hexuan pointed to the north and said with a smile: "The three of you can go to Yan'an to have a look." ”

"I'm not going," Yuan Wujiu waved his hand again and again, "I have a few brothers, so I'm going to Yan'an, and they want to persuade me to go together." But there are too many rules over there, and I can't stand it, and everyone is uncomfortable going. ”

Zheng Rentong smiled: "I won't go either, there is no place for me over there." ”

Wang Er said with a haha: "Yan'an will definitely not let me do my old job, and it is not good to steal it." ”

"Then I don't have a problem," Zhou Hexuan shrugged, "The three of you want to stay as guests, I raise my hands to welcome, and it is no problem to stay as long as you want." But don't mention anything about defection, my men are not allowed to steal or kill except in case of emergency. By the way, Liu Xiang is setting up a spy organization to fight against the spies sent to Sichuan by Lao Jiang, and you may have a chance to show your ambitions if you go to him. ”

Yuan Wujiu said disdainfully: "Liu Xiang is a fart, Sichuan has been governed by him like this, and at first glance he is a bastard with no ability." ”

Zheng Rentong said with a smile: "Then let's stay at Mr. Zhou's house as a guest, just give us food." ”