Today's incident made Zhuang Jihua feel that this trip to Pingjin would not be as smooth as in the south, because the anti-Japanese sentiment in the Pingjin area was strong, and the dissatisfaction with the political axe was much stronger than in the south.

Sure enough, at the meeting held at Tsinghua University the next day, Zhuang Jihua was questioned by the professors, and even the always cautious president Mei Yiqi euphemistically expressed his dissatisfaction with the political axe's suppression of students.

Zhuang Jihua couldn't do anything, he couldn't clearly express his support for the students, but things still had to be done, so he had to ask for the disciples of Mei Yiqi, president of Tsinghua University, and Jiang Menglin, president of Yenching University.

"......, I know that because of the students, the professors have a lot of grievances against the political axe, and I also think that the president has done something inappropriate, but we also have to understand his difficulties, such as declaring war on Yue, is it beneficial for the country as a whole to declare war now? I don't think necessarily, the war is fought with steel, but what about our country? The steel industry is very weak, with an annual output of less than 100,000 tons of steel, and after the loss of the Northeast Iron and Steel Plant, the steel output is even less; If nothing else is said economically, let's talk about currency, the most important thing in this country has not yet been unified; What about the army? Each has its own system, nominally listening to the central government, but in reality? They don't listen to the central government. It is not that the central government does not fight, but it is necessary to prepare for war, and the Resources Committee is a department that is preparing for the War of Resistance, and the task of the Southwest Development Task Force is to investigate and develop the resources of the southwest. Zhuang Jihua shook his words in one breath: "The two principals, to prepare for the War of Resistance, you need to gather the intelligence of the country, and you can't completely abandon the country because of a momentary mistake in the political axe." ”

Jiang Menglin, president of Peking University, once served as the Minister of Education of the National Political Axe, and as a former political axe official, he still has a strong identification with the political axe.

"Since the Opium War, my country has been in the north in every war, but the national crisis has never been so dangerous, and the political axe is preparing for the war of resistance, so we should naturally support it, but General Zhuang," Jiang Menglin sighed and said: "I know what they think, so many students have been arrested, and even I, who has been the minister of national affairs, are very dissatisfied, let alone them." ”

"Yes, General Zhuang, many of our students at Tsinghua University have been arrested and imprisoned in the Third Regiment of the Military Police, if you can rescue the students, I think their attitude will be loosened." Mei Yiqi approached the mayor of Beiping and Zhang Xueliang for this matter, and finally the police station released all the arrests, but the third regiment of the military police had no choice.

Zhuang Jihua thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go to Jiang Xiao and talk to him first, and see if I can release him." ”

After Zhuang Jihua finished speaking, he stood up, turned around to leave, but stopped, turned back to the two principals and said, "Today's words, I hope the two principals will not leak them." ”

"Of course." Mei Yiqi hurriedly agreed, and the release of the student was originally a casual remark, that Jiang Xiaoxian's backstage was extremely tough, and he was the descendant of Chiang Kai-shek's lineage, and even Zhang Xueliang's words didn't work, but he didn't expect this Zhuang Jihua to agree, and he waited for Zhuang Jihua's response with a skeptical attitude.

"Cultural Revolution, will Jiang Xiaoxian release people?" After coming out, Li Zhilong asked.

"It must be released," Zhuang Jihua said calmly: "This is the condition they offered, I get people out, and they have to help me convince the professors." ”

Zhuang Jihua took two steps and suddenly slowed down, and Li Zhilong, who was walking side by side with him, suddenly rushed to the front, Li Zhilong stopped and turned around and asked, "What do you want?" ”

"Zaitian," Zhuang Jihua twisted his eyebrows and thought about it, "I have an idea, you say we can absorb some students to participate in the Southwest Development Task Force, you think, the factory needs technicians, engineers, can Sichuan find so many technicians and engineers, and those exiled students in the Northeast, I think their lives are very difficult, and those refugees in the Northeast, there must also be skilled workers, and get all these people into our team." ”

Li Zhilong thought about it and said, "The idea is good, but are they willing to go?" There is no sign of this factory. Besides, will Jiang Xiaoxian release people? ”

Li Zhilong was not very sure whether Jiang Xiaoxian would release people, but he saw Jiang Xiaoxian's arrogance in front of the overpass.

"You can say if this idea can work first, Jiang Xiaoxian, let's ignore him first, anyway, we have to let him release him in the end, it's really not good, I....I let Mei Xiaomei come forward and use Song Meiling's name to press him." Zhuang Jihua said coldly: "You can't find the principal for this matter, he will definitely not agree." ”

"Miss May? Can she? Li Zhilong asked with some confusion.

"Don't worry, this girl is smart." Zhuang Jihua cheered Li Zhilong up, but he muttered in his heart, Mei Youlan, this girl can't do it.

When I went back to the hostel and told Mei Youlan, I didn't expect her to say yes, not ambiguous at all, and even a little excited.

"Then you just think about what to say." Zhuang Jihua said to her.

"What else is there to think about," Mei Youlan said with a smile: "I'll play the banner of the third aunt and see if he lets people go." ”

"He's your third uncle's nephew, and he doesn't seem to have come out of the five suits yet." Li Zhilong reminded Mei Youlan that Jiang Xiaoxian was not just pressed and released.

"Then you should listen to the third aunt." Mei Youlan tilted her head and smiled: "Besides, other students are right, and patriotism is wrong." ”

"Yes, it's right to be patriotic." Zhuang Jihua stood up and said: "Jiang Xiaoxian must release people, but it is not appropriate to directly use the identity of his wife to suppress people, Jiang Xiaoxian is not blind." ”

At the gate of the third regiment of the military police, as soon as Zhuang Jihua's business card was handed over, Jiang Xiaoxian greeted him, not only did he come out, the Whampoa military academy students of the third regiment all came, the military police regiment is composed of Chiang Kai-shek's descendants, and most of its officers are graduates of the third or fourth phase of Whampoa, most of these officers have seen Zhuang Jihua, but there is very little contact, some days ago, it was rumored that Zhuang Jihua was imprisoned, and the officers of the three regiments were still preparing to write a collective letter, imploring Chiang Kai-shek to release them, but in a blink of an eye, Zhuang Jihua not only came out, but also took office as deputy director of the Resources Committee; They are not unfamiliar with Li Zhilong, the three heroes of Whampoa, Vice Admiral, although he was unlucky later, but no one in Whampoa denied his talent, but at the beginning they belonged to two camps, and they were either noisy or fighting when they met, and they were still a little embarrassed in each other's hearts, so there were many people around Zhuang Jihua, and Li Zhilong was inevitably a little cold.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Xiaoxian drove everyone else away, leaving only the deputy head of the regiment, Zhao Shanyi, a native of Zhejiang, who graduated from the third phase of Huangpu. After the others left, Zhuang Jihua didn't wait for Jiang Xiaoxian to pick it out, and introduced Mei Youlan to Jiang Xiaoxian first.

"Jian Xiao, let me introduce you," he pointed at Mei Youlan and said, "This young lady is your relative, Miss Mei Youlan." ”

"Hello cousin," Mei Youlan stood up and respectfully saluted Jiang Xiaoxian: "I often hear my aunt talk about you, but I only saw my cousin today." ”

"You are ???" Jiang Xiaoxian looked at the beautiful girl in front of him with some confusion, and wondered in his heart, where did this cousin come from.

"It's my wife's niece, I grew up in the United States, and I only returned to China a few days ago," Zhuang Jihua smiled bitterly: "No, if you have to follow me, you can't do it, my wife's face is there, I can't refute my wife's face." ”

"What the eldest brother said, why can't I come, don't forget that I am the representative of the company, without my consent, grandpa's funds will not be able to pass." Mei Youlan wanted to use Song Meiling's signboard directly, but Zhuang Jihua thought it was inappropriate, so he still set up the identity of the company's representative first: "Besides, you have to pay attention to the third aunt who has explained my affairs." ”

At this time, Jiang Xiaoxian smiled with relief, stood up and saluted Mei Youlan: "It turned out to be my cousin, why does my cousin still have business dealings with the Cultural Revolution?" ”

"That's not it," Zhuang Jihua said with a smile: "Her grandfather, Mr. Mei and some overseas Chinese decided to help the country develop industry to deal with her own aggression, but they were worried about those corrupt officials in China, so they sent a supervisor, and all the funds of our southwest development team were provided by them." ”

"Cultural Revolution, what did you Southwest Development Task Force do?" Zhao Shanyi asked with some curiosity.

"In fact, it is to investigate the resources of the southwest region and prepare for the development of the southwest," Zhuang Jihua just said in general terms: "But we can't rely on us to investigate the resources of the southwest, we are all soldiers, we can lead the troops to fight, and we have to let the experts go to investigate the resources, so I came to Beiping, there are groups of experts in these universities of Tsinghua University and Peking University and Yanjing, and the matter has to be handed over to them." ”

Jiang Xiaoxian began to hear something, he didn't speak, Zhao Shanyi slapped his thigh: "That's not simple, the political axe issued a letter of appointment." ”

"Shanyi, things are so simple, I'm afraid the Cultural Revolution won't come to my door." Jiang Xiaoxian didn't let him finish his words: "Is it that they don't want to go?" ”

Zhuang Jihua smiled bitterly and nodded, Li Zhilong wanted to speak and make things clear, but Zhuang Jihua stopped him from opening with his eyes, Jiang Xiaoxian stood up and sighed: "Cultural Revolution, you saw it, shouting resistance all day long, when you really want to contribute to the resistance, all become shrinking turtles, I don't think you can count on them, don't there are experts and professors in Nanjing and Shanghai?" ”

Speaking of this, Jiang Xiaoxian suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Zhuang Jihua: "Why didn't you invite you in Shanghai and Nanjing during the Cultural Revolution?" There are a lot of universities there, so I have to come here. ”

"You still need to say that it's not enough, some people agree to go, some people still have something to do, and you can't hollow out everyone, and the school can't do it." Zhuang Jihua sighed sadly and said: "To tell the truth, Li Siguang has already entered Sichuan with two exploration teams, and six more are ready to enter Sichuan. But now ,...., alas. ”

Jiang Xiaoxian was a little surprised, what is this going to do? With so many people entering Sichuan, what does the principal want to do in Sichuan? There must be a big move in Sichuan.

"During the Cultural Revolution, what did the principal want to do in Sichuan? Why such a big move? Jiang Xiao asked first.

Zhuang Jihua looked at him and whispered: "Jian Xiao, the principal must have a purpose in arranging for us to enter Sichuan, but now that he hasn't said it, we don't dare to guess." ”

"Actually, it's not that they don't want to come out, it's just..." Zhuang Jihua looked at Jiang Xiaoxian: "They proposed to release the arrested students first." That's why I've come to you. ”

Jiang Xiaoxian understood, but this release ..., Nanjing's instructions to him were to prevent the Communist Party and supervise all walks of life in the military and political circles in Beiping. How do you explain it in Nanjing? If you let it go, it is a dereliction of duty, no.

"Cultural Revolution, I can't help you with this." Jiang Xiaoxian said regretfully: "If one or two are okay, you want to let them all go, absolutely not, unless you bring the principal's hand." ”

"Yes, the Cultural Revolution, there must be a Communist Party in this," Zhao Shanyi also said: "For the Communist Party, the principal said that it is better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let go of one, and we have been tolerant enough of these students." ”

"I have to kill you," Mei Youlan retorted unconvinced, "The students asked to resist, and there was nothing wrong with them. ”

"Miss, don't talk nonsense, the anti-Japanese propaganda naturally has a political axe to do it, the students are messing around, causing some unnecessary incidents in vain, and besides, they are bewitched by the Communist Party and propaganda in the name of anti-propaganda." Zhao Shanyi hurriedly explained, his explanation was very official.

"This doesn't make sense," Li Zhilong had been patient for a long time, and at this moment he finally couldn't help but stand up: "Resistance is not only a matter of political axes, but also a matter of the people of the whole country. ”

"Zaitian, don't get excited," Zhuang Jihua hurriedly stopped, but he was a little disappointed in his heart, how could Li Zhilong be so easily excited after so many setbacks: "Jian Xiao, I don't agree with your words, since it is bewitching, then explain it clearly, explain it clearly, others will no longer be bewitched, I still say the same thing, it is better to be sparse." We can't let others carry a good reputation, we have a bad reputation. ”

"The Cultural Revolution, it's also difficult," Jiang Xiaoxian frowned and said: "I let people go, your task is completed, but my task is all in vain, the principal wants to track it down, I can't afford it." ”

"Hmph, cousin, you are so timid, I thought you were a big husband," Mei Youlan glanced at Jiang Xiaoxian and Zhao Shanyi with contempt: "Deputy Head Zhao, don't scare me, even in front of my uncle, I said this, and I am not guilty." My aunt and I have also talked about this issue, and she has a different opinion from you, she believes that students are young and naïve, and should be protected and guided, and cannot be blindly suppressed. ”

"Cousin, if you are afraid, then I will be the guarantor, I will be the guarantor, and I will bear the responsibility." Mei Youlan unceremoniously stood up and said to Jiang Xiaoxian.

(To be continued)