Guangzhou, the southern gate of China, is the economic and political center of Lingnan. Guangzhou is also one of the cities with the highest frequency in modern Chinese history, with the Humen Tobacco Sale, the Huanghuagang Seventy-two Martyrs, the Eastern Expedition to the Northern Expedition, and the last large-scale urban riot held by the young Chinese at the end of 1927, the city recorded its glory and pride with blood.

After the Patriotic War, Guangzhou became the base camp of Sun Yat-sen's leadership of the Chinese Revolution, and this situation lasted until the victory of the Northern Expedition. In 1924, Guangzhou assumed the hope of all the people with lofty ideals in China, and countless young people from all over China rushed to Guangzhou, and our master was also one of them.

Zhuang Jihua arrived two days before the registration deadline, unlike others, others generally come in groups, he came alone, this is because others came together after the initial examination, he did not participate in any preliminary examination, because he did not know where the preliminary examination was, and later he regretted it, because it was the great leader who presided over the preliminary examination in Shanghai at that time, although it may not be what will happen when he meets him, but at least he can be familiar with his face.

After returning home that day, he told his parents his thoughts that night, and his parents were very surprised, at first they thought that he was poor at home, and then he explained again and again, although his parents understood, but still disagreed, good iron does not nail, good men are not soldiers, the concept has taken root in the minds of honest parents, Zhuang Laishun felt that he came back from Citigroup, there should be no problem to find a stable job in Shanghai, that hundreds of oceans can buy a few acres of paddy fields, raise two cows, and repair the rest of the house, I have to hurry up and marry him a daughter-in-law, he is not young, and there are several children in the village who are his age. These words made Zhuang Jihua feel a burst of sadness in his heart, lamenting the simplicity of his parents and lamenting their short-sightedness. Fortunately, the next day the father agreed, and at night inadvertently heard the mother crying and complaining about the father, the father just said that the child was high-spirited, and his thoughts were different from others, which made him very moved, if he said that he recognized his parents, he had the idea of repaying the kindness, and now this dilapidated house really began to make him feel a little home.

I was moved and didn't leave the next day, thinking about helping the family do something, and finally it turned into a mess. Because he doesn't know how to work in the countryside at all, he can't do anything to collect firewood, plow the fields, burn the fire and cook rice, the only thing to do well is to pick a tank of water, others go twice, he goes five times, but the old couple are also a little relieved to see him like this, although in the end the main thing is still done by themselves.

After leaving his parents, he first rushed to Shanghai, where he had a preliminary glimpse of Chinese society at this time. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are known as the land of fish and rice, but there are many beggars selling children and women along the way.

Shanghai, the most prosperous city in China in the twenties, was also the place he was most familiar with, and he worked here for several years after returning to China. He paused to try to find the familiarity in his mind, but after 80 years of changes, all that could be identified were the bell tower and the famous iron bridge over the Suzhou Creek. Warships shuttled on the river, and these warships hung different national flags, but they did not hang the five-color flag of the Beiyang, nor did they hang the blue sky and white and the ground was red.

Crossing the iron bridge is the legendary concession, as later generations have only seen it in books and film and television dramas, now the opportunity has come, reporting the mood of sightseeing, he wandered around the concession, when trying to enter the Bund Park, the Indian patrol stopped him, brutally drove him aside, in his loud protest (in English), the black Indian with a circle of cloth on his head pointed to the sign next to him, asked him to show the certificate that he was not Chinese, looking at the sign, "Chinese and dogs are not allowed to enter", Blood welled up in his head, his face turned red, and he slowly left with a deep sense of shame.

He took a boat in Shanghai to Guangzhou, found a hotel to stay, he left home with a full 100 yuan of ocean, originally he only wanted to take 40 yuan away, but after arriving in Shanghai, he found that his mother secretly put 60 yuan in his baggage, just like his mother in another world. In addition to the cost of the road, there are more than 80 oceans, which is very abundant, so he picked a hotel that looks more decent, which is a habit he brought from later generations, in later generations, most multinational companies have regulations on accommodation, and three stars or less are not allowed to live, which also makes him lose the opportunity to get close to most candidates.

Xiaonanmen, in the Guangzhou Higher Normal School, the registration office of the Huangpu Military Academy is located here, and the registration office was originally located at No. 2 Nandi, where the preparatory office of the Huangpu Military Academy is located, but there are too many people who come to sign up, so that it affects the normal work of the preparatory office, so it is changed here. These days the crowd is surging, young people from all over the country are here to sign up, Zhuang Jihua arrived on the last day of registration, but he encountered a little trouble, according to the regulations he has to show his academic diploma, which let him go where to find, fortunately his recommender is amazing, joking that is Chiang Kai-shek Deng Yanda, himself is a person from the Whampoa Military Academy Preparatory Committee, is the direct boss of the officer in the registration office, so this officer is very smart to run to Liao Zhongkai to ask for instructions, Liao Zhongkai came over and chatted with him in English and let him sign up, Zhuang Jihua was very happy to see this, and thought that the national political axe still attaches great importance to ability, rather than just a piece of paper; In fact, it was not what he thought at all, the reason why Liao Zhongkai came to see him was mainly because Deng Yanda talked about him after he came back, thinking that talents were rare and valued him very much. Chiang Kai-shek also talked about him in his letter to Liao Zhongkai, believing that this young man would become a pillar of the revolution after being tempered. Liao Zhongkai knew that Chiang Kai-shek and Deng Yanda had political differences, but these two people unanimously valued this young man, especially after Deng Yanda told him Zhuang Jihua's analysis of the current domestic political situation and the analysis of the Soviet Union, his first feeling was that this Zhuang Jihua's talent was too incredible, and he must meet him when he came to Guangzhou, so when the officer of the registration office reported to him, as soon as he said that Zhuang Jihua would come in person, if it was an ordinary person, he would need him to come in person. So Zhuang Jihua unknowingly created a history of the Whampoa Military Academy, and he was the only one who took the re-examination directly without passing the initial examination and without academic certificates.

After Zhuang Jihua quickly filled out a bunch of forms, the officer who received the forms asked him to go for a physical examination, and he asked in which hospital, hospital? The officer was a little surprised, looked at Zhuang Jihua's serious appearance, and thought that this young man had a little background or should not be offended, pointed to the group of people standing in line in the open space next to him, and told Zhuang Jihua that he was there, and the physical examination was for a few officers to see if you were disabled or if you smoked a lot, and there should be no problem with your appearance, and the admission ticket would be issued after the physical examination. Zhuang Jihua suddenly realized that he also saw the queue when he came just now, but he didn't know what it was doing.

obediently lined up at the end of the line, and soon there were people standing behind him, and there were still many people filling out the form over there, as later generations said, hot-blooded young people flocked to Whampoa. He also saw how the medical examination was conducted, and a line of people stood there, and an officer stood in front of them, looking at them one by one, and then asked them to walk a few steps, not crooked, not lame, even if they passed. The physical examination is very fast, and several batches will be completed in a while, Zhuang Jihua looks left and looks at the scenery, what scenery? Of course, it's a beauty, there are many girls in the normal school, white clothes, blue skirts and white socks, although it is difficult to see what the figure is, but it also has a unique flavor. When the scenery was just right, I heard someone shouting: "Why don't you allow me to revolutionize!" What's wrong with being short, Napoleon is short, and he is also the commander of the French army, and Mr. Zhongshan is not tall! Why should you not be allowed to make a revolution if you are short, and should the revolution be divided into tall, short, fat and thin? ”

He turned his eyes and saw a small black man, waving his arms and shouting loudly at an officer, his eyes were red, and he had obviously cried, and the officer was trying to reassure him, and a group of people were surrounding him.

Zhuang Jihua asked the people in the front row softly: "Classmate, what's wrong with that brother?" ”

The man didn't reply, "It seems that he is too short to meet the requirements." ”

"It's a bit short, the man doesn't flick when he has tears, it's embarrassing, I think this is his house, crying, throwing our Whampoa's face, what's his name?" Zhuang Jihua estimates that the little man is not even 1.6 meters, and he looks down on this kind of man who cries and wipes tears at every turn.

"It seems to be called Hu Zong... South, from Zhejiang", the man looked back at Zhuang Jihua, and casually teased: "How heroic the characters in Jiangnan are, and the men have tears like springs, ha." ”

"Cut, you ....... this blow face, you say, what is his name, Hu Zongnan!" , Zhuang Jihua suddenly remembered that Hu Zongnan, Chiang Kai-shek's hardcore, a first-class general of the Kuomintang, had commanded hundreds of thousands of troops, first in northern Shaanxi, and then was driven from Shaanxi to Sichuan by Peng Dehuai. Why is it just this German surname, looking at this little man with black and red eyes, it is really difficult to associate him with the high-ranking and powerful Northwest King of the Kuomintang.

Surprised, the voice was inevitably a little louder, and the crying Hu Zongnan heard someone calling him, turned his head to look this way, and the people around him looked at Zhuang Jihua very cooperatively, and when Zhuang Jihua reacted, he was already exposed to everyone, so Zhuang Jihua simply walked into the field.

"Classmate Hu Zongnan, I support you, you are right, the revolution should not be divided into high and low, fat and thin" Zhuang Jihua looked righteous, and the classmate behind him was dumbfounded, this kid became too fast. "What you look like is given by your parents, determined by God, and cannot be used as a necessary condition for revolutionaries."

"Yes, Mr. Zhongshan advocated revolution, but you let the enthusiastic young people have no way to serve the country."

"This classmate, the height is clearly stipulated in the military academy enrollment brochure. Besides, being short in stature is a great disadvantage on the battlefield, which is also for the sake of this classmate. The officer explained.

"Short stature suffers on the battlefield? I don't know whose military point of view. From the perspective of actual combat, the smaller the target, the smaller the probability of being hit, and the greater the chance of survival on the battlefield. Therefore, Hu Zongnan is likely to live longer than you and me. Zhuang Jihua solemnly refuted the officer's words, with a serious face, but he quietly ignored the enrollment conditions.

"Wow", the people around were all happy, including several other officers who were checking their bodies, and even Hu Zongnan burst out laughing.

"Small in stature and short in arms, you will suffer a lot when fighting bayonets." The officer patiently explained with a smile

"The big ones are dull, the small ones are flexible, each has its own advantages, and besides, fighting a bayonet is mainly about courage and skill, and has nothing to do with the length of the arm. If the outcome of the battle is determined by the size of the person, then what else to fight, everyone will know if they are taller than they are, and there will definitely be a lot of less blood shed in this world. Zhuang Jihua retorted. Yue himself was much shorter than the Chinese, but in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, one Yueben soldier could deal with three Chinese soldiers in an assassination battle.

"Haha, haha, high theory, high theory, it seems that I will live longer than all of you." Liao Zhongkai walked in from behind with a smile, he heard a noise outside on the way back to the office, thought something was wrong, and hurriedly came out to take a look, not wanting to hear Zhuang Jihua's "high theory", he was also a short man. Several officers hurriedly saluted him, he looked at Hu Zongnan, and said to Zhuang Jihua: "I heard that you have a keen eye and unique opinions, and now you are really extraordinary." After saying that, he looked at him meaningfully, and Zhuang Jihua understood why Liao Zhongkai came to see him in person just now, and he didn't regret his recklessness. Liao Zhongkai said to the officer again: "I think this classmate is nothing other than being short, the revolution urgently needs a large number of talents, as long as he is healthy and has good grades, he can take the exam." I approved. After speaking, he wrote a note and handed it to Hu Zongnan, "In the future, if someone says that you are short, you will give him this note." ”

Liao Zhongkai's demeanor impressed the people present, but Zhuang Jihua was thinking hard: How did Liao Zhongkai die? TMD, I knew that I would memorize the history of the Republic of China today, and I hated less when the book was used, so I really couldn't think of it, so I shook my head and forgot it.

He easily passed the physical examination, and to be honest, his physique is better than that of most young people in this era, why? Because the nutrition is different, in later generations, he eats and drinks well every day, which is more nourishing than the vast majority of landlords and capitalists in this era, plus he often exercises, even if he has the experience of being bedridden for dozens of days in this era, he is better than the vast majority of candidates, and the physical examination is not a problem for him at all.

However, after such a show, Zhuang Jihua is considered to have emerged in Huangpu, and after the passing of the candidates present, when they went to Huangpu Island, most of the candidates knew such a "sharp-eyed" or "sharp-toothed" Zhuang Jihua, which he did not expect.

Another result of the "uneven" is that his physical examination also passed ahead of schedule at the same time, Hu Zongnan is very grateful to him as a "righteous" person, and after chatting only to know that each other is from Zhejiang, Hu Zongnan couldn't help but be overjoyed, and pulled him to meet the Zhejiang fellow countrymen.

Who are the easiest people for Chinese to gather together in a strange place? Fellow villagers, who generally go far away, are invited by fellow villagers to go together, and it is rare for someone like Zhuang Jihua to come here, considering that he grew up in the United States, it is not surprising. Out of awe of Huangpu, Zhuang Jihua also hopes to meet these "fellow countrymen", of course, the main thing is to enhance the "relationship" with the number one general under the future chairman, and the place to go is naturally a teahouse.