Yucheng, known as Yuzhou in ancient times, the pearl of eastern Sichuan, is surrounded by mountains, the whole city is built according to the mountains, the climate is humid and foggy, so it is called the fog capital, the Jialing River from the Qinling Mountains crosses Sichuan and joins the Yangtze River flowing straight down from the Tanggula Mountain, the Chaotianmen at the confluence of the two rivers is the most important shipping terminal in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In 1932, Yucheng was controlled by Liu Xiang, one of the two major warlords in Sichuan, and was the pillar of Liu Xiang's attempt to dominate Sichuan.

Liu Xiang is not tall, honest on the outside, and shrewd on the inside, and people who meet for the first time are often easily confused by his appearance. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty to apply for the Sichuan Army Crash School, Liu Xiang in the warlord melee to pull a group of crash school classmates to his side to form the Sichuan warlords in the crash system, relying on this group of classmates, he has defeated Xiong Kewu, Liu Cunhou, Yang Sen, step by step to the position of the aftermath supervision, becoming one of the two major forces dominating Sichuan.

The establishment of the Resources Committee and the formation of the Southwest Development Task Force certainly did not hide from Liu Xiang, the head of the land entrenched in Chongqing, and the representative he sent in Nanjing had already reported back the news, but at the beginning he did not show much concern, and even the arrival of Zeng Guangqing and Teng Jie attracted his attention, but what happened afterwards caused him to worry.

"I brought everyone here because the more I think about it, the more I feel that something is wrong," in Li Ziba, in the military headquarters of the 21st Army, Liu Xiang said to the four people sitting in the office with a worried face: "I'm afraid that this southwest development team is not just as simple as getting some resources, is Gui'er Chiang Kai-shek still making some calculations?" ”

"I think it's the same, Zeng Guangqing said that there were only more than 1,000 people last time, but a few days ago he said that there were more than 2,000 people." Although his face is a little chubby, Pan Wenhua, the mayor of Yucheng City, who is a little elegant, took the lead in expressing his support: "How many people are they coming?" What are they? Is it the army or the staff? None of this is clear. ”

"It's a matter of time before Chiang Kai-shek plots against Sichuan, but I don't think he will attack us so quickly." Senior adviser Qiao Yifu said with suspicion: "Chiang Kai-shek's henchmen are the Communist Party and himself, and he will not attack Sichuan lightly. ”

"I think Yifu is right, one Communist Party, the other himself, before Chiang Kai-shek overthrows them, it is impossible to send a large army to come, but we have to take precautions, I estimate that these two thousand people are a hand he stretched out to Sichuan." It was Fu Chang, chief of staff of the 21st Army, who spoke, and Liu Xiang had a very special relationship, he was one of the few students who followed Xiong Kewu after graduating from the crash school, after the failure of the second revolution against Yuan, he escaped from Sichuan, and then returned to Sichuan with [***], and has been fighting in Xiong Kewu's first military system, until Xiong Kewu was defeated and left Sichuan, he broke away from Xiong Kewu's first line, and came to Yang Sen's command, and later Qiao Yifu pulled him into Liu Xiang's army.

Liu Xiang has always respected Fu Chang, this respect actually originated in the Second Revolution at the earliest, when Fu Chang was ordered to persuade Liu Xiang to raise troops against Yuan, although Liu Xiang refused, but he admired Fu Chang very much in his heart, so as soon as Fu Chang came over, he entrusted him with the important task of chief of staff.

"Zhenwu (Fu Changzi Zhenwu) is right, this is Chiang Kai-shek's hand stretched out to Sichuan," Pan Wenhua stood up and walked to the map and pointed to the drawing: "After the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, and Li Zongren, who could confront Chiang Kai-shek, all failed, He Jian in Hunan, Zhu Peide in Jiangxi, Zhang Xueliang in Yanjing, and Yang Hucheng in Shaanxi were all obedient to Chiang Kai-shek, only in the southwest, Chiang Kai-shek's forces could not enter for the time being, especially Sichuan and Yunnan, this development team, called Resources, actually came to us. ”

"Well, just 2,000 people?" Qiao Yifu asked suspiciously: "Fu Cheng, Zhong San, what did Chiang Kai-shek and Zeng Kuoqing say?" No other news from Ming Jie? ”

Ming Jie's reference was Deng Hanxiang, the representative of Liu Xiang's faction in Nanjing, and the news from the Resources Committee was reported back by him, and his news was even earlier than Chiang Kai-shek's notice.

Chiang Kai-shek's telephone to Liu Xiang was very polite, only saying that the resources of the southwest region would be investigated in order to benefit the country's development, and that the southwest development task force was sent by the Resources Committee and led by Deputy Director Zhuang Jihua.

"Brother Sike, what do you think," Liu Xiang did not answer Qiao Yifu's question, but turned his head and asked Zhang Sike, who was leaning back against the sofa, Zhang Sike is also a classmate of the crash school, but after graduation, he rarely really joined the army, and he didn't like to wear military uniforms, he wore a long shirt all year round, but although he didn't wear a military doctor, he was the real core figure in Liu Xiang's shogunate, and Liu Xiang relied on him like a mountain.

"Yes, the question is not what Chiang Kai-shek did, but how we dealt with it." Zhang Sike slowly sat up straight: "Can we not let him come?" If not, then it's all. ”

Although Zhang Sike's words were a bit rude, the people here had already taken them for granted and didn't take them to heart at all.

"That's right, Brother Scott, that's to the point." Liu Xiang patted his head, in fact, Pan Wenhua and Fu Chang were worried, he had already thought of it, but what he was really worried about was that there was no way to deal with it: "My father (my father's youngest brother, known as my father in Sichuan) is restless, and I am afraid that a battle will be inevitable, and if we fall out with Chiang Kai-shek at this time, we will be attacked on our backs, Ge Laozi, this old Jiang knows how to seize the opportunity, let Lao Tzu refuse it, welcome it, and it is uncomfortable at both ends." Tell me, what should we do with Lange? It's better not to let him come. ”

"Can you send a power connection, we can send someone to protect it." Qiao Yifu keenly realized that the escort team must be the army, and it didn't matter if experts and scholars really found out the mineral deposits, it would also be a lot of wealth.

"That's an idea," Fu Chang said, "but I don't think Chiang Kai-shek will agree, for the simple reason that we can protect in our defense area, but in other people's defense areas?" I'm afraid we won't be able to protect it. ”

"Shingo is right, since Chiang Kai-shek is determined to send such a team, it is impossible for him to take it back without a suitable reason, and he still has to think of other ways." Pan Wenhua frowned and said.

"Fu Cheng, there is nothing we can do to stop them from coming now," Zhang Sike had already concluded in his heart, he didn't expect that Liu Xiang hurriedly brought them here today to talk about this matter: "But we can wait, just be honest, if we are not honest, then we will rely on things again." ”

Liu Xiang was silent, he was a little unwilling, he had expanded his feelings on the opposite side of the Guanyin Bridge to build a large number of buildings, how could others be allowed to sleep next to this couch, but there was indeed no reason to refuse, he nodded after a long time: "Okay, let's wait and see who he is here." ”

"But there is one thing we have to inquire about now," Zhang Sike said suddenly, Liu Xiang suddenly turned his head to look at him: "Who is that Zhuang Jihua?" The only thing we have collected is that he once served as the deputy commander of the first division in the Northern Expedition, graduated from the first phase of Huangpu, fought in the Niuhang Campaign, and later went abroad, what about the others? What was the talent of this man, and why did Chiang Kai-shek appoint him? Why did he go abroad and why did he come back? Let Ming Jie's inquiry in Nanjing. ”

"Yes, yes," Liu Xianglian claimed: "Send a telegram to Ming Jie, and ask him to check this Zhuang Jihua." ”

"By the way, Fu Cheng, isn't Yu Peidi back, he has been in Guangzhou, you can ask him to see if you know this Zhuang Jihua." Pan Wenhua said, "It's okay, but this matter has Lao Zhenwu." Liu Xiang turned his head and said to Fu Chang, only Fu Chang Yu Peidi had a relationship with Yu Peidi, Fu Chang nodded, but he thought in his heart that Yu Peidi had left the military circle in Guangzhou, and now he was even more dedicated to business, and it was inferred from time that Zhuang Jihua was just a small school official when he was in Guangzhou, how could the two know each other.

Yu Peidi returned to Sichuan in 29 years, after Li Jishen cleared the party in Guangzhou, he began to exclude them, the Sichuan soldiers, and gave them small shoes to wear, he resigned in frustration, and worked as a public servant in Shanghai for a period of time, and germinated the idea of returning to his hometown, but as the backbone of a military department, it was naturally not so easy for him to come back, and in the end, it was Zhang Lan and Fu Chang who dredged it on his behalf, and Liu Xiang agreed to him to come back.

After returning to Sichuan, Yu Peidi lived in his hometown of Neijiang, thought about it for a long time, and began to do business last year, after the reorganization of the Sichuan Army, he was actually a government-run company in Guangzhou, and he also accumulated some experience and relationships, so he decided to open a company in Yucheng after doing business, specializing in Sichuan-Guangdong trade, and the business was very prosperous.

After learning that Fu Chang was coming, Yu Peidi was silent, he didn't know the news of Zhuang Jihua's return to China, and he also knew that he was the deputy director of the Resources Committee, these news were all in the newspaper, and he knew that he was going to Yucheng, but he didn't expect Fu Chang to come to him to inquire about Zhuang Jihua.

"Shingo, what do you say about the Cultural Revolution,...., person?" Yu Peidi was a little hesitant, although he lost to Zhuang Jihua back then, but he admired him very much, Zhuang Jihua entered Sichuan this time, he instinctively thought that it was not as simple as the newspaper said, so he was a little dilemma, both sides are friends, it is not good to offend anyone, after thinking about it, he finally decided to tell the truth: "I don't want to evaluate him as a person, borrow a sentence from Jin Gong, Huangpu can have such a character, but it can't be prosperous." Shingo, you have always boasted of yourself, and when you saw the Cultural Revolution, you knew what it was to be outside the people. ”

"This is what Jin Gong said!" Fu Chang was surprised, to be honest, he didn't have any hope at all when he came here, but he didn't expect Yu Peidi to give him an accident, a big surprise.

What kind of person is Xiong Kewu, a veteran of the Sichuan army, one of the best people in Sichuan politics, from the Xinhai Revolution to the Protector War, spanning Sichuan for more than ten years, Liu Xiang was almost driven out of Sichuan by him back then, if it weren't for his internal turmoil, Liu Xiang would not have had a chance to make a comeback, this person who even Liu Xiang was willing to bow down, actually gave such a high evaluation to this Zhuang Jihua.

But this is not over, Yu Peidi seems to have decided to scare him.

"The First Army of that year was not so much absorbed by Chiang Kai-shek as it was absorbed by the Zhuang Cultural Revolution; But you would never have imagined that whether it was Jin Gong or us, the whole army was not dissatisfied with him, and this alone shows how powerful he is. If he comes to Sichuan, Zhenwu, I advise you to try to be friendly with him and not to be an enemy of him. ”

Fu Chang left Yu Peidi's house in a daze, and immediately rushed to Li Ziba, and explained Yu Peidi's words to Liu Xiang 1510, Liu Xiang didn't say a word, just looked at the other side coldly, the opposite bank is Guanyin Bridge, Zeng Guangqing and Teng Jie are in full swing there.

(To be continued)