During the president's visit to the United States, high-level government officials, generals of the national armed forces, and US officials in Vietnam saw him off at the airport.

As the plane soared into the blue sky and disappeared from view, the air in Saigon seemed to become less oppressive.

As soon as Ngo Dinh Yen and his wife left, Yang Wenming greeted Lieutenant General Samuel Williams, the third chairman of the US Military Advisory Group, and got into the car of Major General Chen Shanqian and came to the General Staff Headquarters not far from the airport.

The eyes and ears of the People's Workers' Party are everywhere, the generals and colonels of the National Army are all the targets of surveillance, and the new CIA Saigon station chief William Colby is also on the inside line of the development of the National Army.

The two of them nodded slightly with the staff officers, walked into a large conference room, and whispered in French with the door open.

Vietnamese people are generally not tall, Yang Wenming is undoubtedly one of the alternatives, 1.83 meters tall, tall and burly, known as "Da Ming", sitting on a chair as if standing.

He took out a cigarette and said coldly: "How can Chen Zhongyong be virtuous, he actually became the Minister of National Defense, it is simply cronyism!" ”

The warlords of the Pingchuan faction made meritorious contributions in the coup d'état, and then led his troops to sweep away the warlords and teach the warlords, and were promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel.

I thought that the future was bright and would be reused.

As a result, the rank of military has been continuously promoted, from colonel to brigadier general, from brigadier general to the current major general, but the power is getting smaller and smaller. From the commander of a few battalions in his hands, he became the principal of the army officer school, and from the director of the military academy to the military adviser of the presidential office.

Half a month ago, everyone thought that he would take over as defense minister.

However, yesterday morning's appointment took place without any military background. Chen Zhongyong, his niece and son-in-law, who had not even held public office for a few days, commanded the three armies. To everyone's surprise.

Chen Shanqian can understand his feelings. sighed lightly: "This is not the first time, don't take it to heart." ”

The more Yang Wenming thought about it, the more angry he became, and said indignantly: "As the chairman of the People's Workers' Party and the political adviser to the president, Ngo Dinh Ngai used the secret police to suppress the opposition; Chen Lichun not only leads the work of women, but also calls for wind and rain in the parliament as a member of Parliament; Ngo Dinh Khoo changed from Bishop Vinh Long to Archbishop of Hue, but he lived in the Presidential Palace and held the religious power of the state.

Ngo Dinh Jin sat in Hue, and several provinces in Central Thi listened to him, and he was known as the 'King of Central Thi'; As the representative of the president, he is in charge of the military and political power of the six provinces; Chen Wendu served as foreign minister, Chen Wenwen served as US ambassador, Chen Wenwen's wife served as the representative to the United Nations, and Li Weimin of the industrial investment company, what is this not the 'Wu family'? ”

Authoritarianism, nepotism, the more unseemly it becomes.

Although none of the Wu brothers held official positions in the government, they had their own functions, running the People's Workers' Party, commanding the private army, and the secret police. Ngo Dinh Hau became the most powerful religious leader in Vietnam, and was allowed to ask Saigon merchants for "voluntary donations to the church."

He used his position to help the Catholic Church acquire farms, shops, city property, and rubber plantations. and even the use of the military to work for his own individuals. Including timber and construction works.

Chen Lichun plays the role of "first lady" in accordance with her Catholic values. He led social reforms in Saigon, closed brothels and tobacco houses, made divorce and abortion illegal, and promoted a series of bizarre laws such as the prohibition of adultery and the nervous kissing in public.

Now people want to get divorced, and they need to get the president's approval.

Although Chen Shanqian was also dissatisfied with the reality, he didn't want to crack down, so he raised his head and said: "Li Weimin is different, the senior executives of the industrial investment company, including Chen Shiguo, Liu Jiachang, and Wu Andong, are all people who are doing the right thing. ”

"They're aiding and abetting."

Li Weimin has a special status, not only influential at home, but also famous abroad.

Although he rarely went to the US embassy and although he almost never dealt with the US military advisory group, Chen Shanqian clearly understood that in the minds of Americans, Ngo Dinh Diem was Ngo Dinh Diem and Li Weimin was Li Weimin, and the two could not be confused.

"In the matter of Ruan Gui's family, they finally showed mercy. It's really impossible to talk about aiding and abusive, otherwise you wouldn't have saved so many people. If he hadn't helped, Pan Guangsheng and them would have survived to this day? ”

Yang Wenming didn't want his old friend to think that he was selfish, so he took a puff of his cigarette and said: "Wu Tingyan is in charge of the world, and he is engaged in petty dictatorship." In the Chinese area on the embankment, the needle cannot be inserted into the water and splashed in; The Fifth Infantry Division, listen to the tune and do not listen to the announcement; The Ministry of the Interior does not have control over the police in industrial villages, and the Ministry of National Defense does not have control over the security forces in industrial villages, so to speak, those industrial villages are no different from 'independent kingdoms'.

In particular, the Phu Quoc Special Administrative Region Security Force has more than 4,000 personnel. Under the guise of the Reserve Officer Training Corps of Phu Quoc Institute of Technology, he wants to engage in the Air Force and Navy, what does he want to do, he wants to secede, he wants to be a warlord? ”

As a military adviser to the president, he has never entered the political core, and he does not know much about it.

The Industrial Investment Company has helped the General Staff Headquarters solve many problems of employment for military dependents, and several divisions stationed near various industrial villages can receive a large amount of condolence payments from the Industrial Investment Company every year.

Chen Shanqian and Li Weimin have a good personal relationship, and he doesn't want old friends to misunderstand new friends, so he patiently explained: "Li Weimin is not so ambitious, and many things are not what you imagined." ”

"What do you mean?"

"The Chinese on the embankment are involved in diplomacy and economics to promote the naturalization of Chinese, and he is under great pressure, and I don't know how many people called him a 'traitor' at that time. Only he is the only one who can do this, and if the government directly promulgates a decree, those Chinese businessmen will definitely make trouble, and the Republic of China will definitely protest.

More importantly, the development of the country needs Chinese capital.

He has successfully solved this series of problems through the industrial village plan, through the industrial investment company, and through his personal efforts and the efforts of the Chinese Youth Association. Chinese businessmen have become naturalized, capital has not fled, several industrial villages have developed, so many people have been employed, and the sense of belonging of Chinese people to the country is getting stronger and stronger, what else do you want? ”

Strategically, Vietnam should have good relations with the Republic of China.

If Taiwan can counterattack the mainland, even if it contains some of the mainland's forces, the pressure on South Vietnam will be much less.

Yang Wenming reacted and asked, "What about the Fifth Infantry Division?" ”

"At the time of the signing of the Geneva Agreement, the two Nong divisions were ready to be disarmed and repatriated, and some weapons and equipment had been returned to the French army. At that time, the political situation was unstable and the national army had not begun to be reorganized, and Le Ngoc Zhen was worried that the Vietminh would take advantage of the opportunity to stir up trouble, so he suggested that the refugee committee resettle some Nong people to Xining.

It is said to be Xining, but it is actually the Parrot Point area. Don't look at the headquarters of the Fifth Infantry Division, which is located under goose oil, in fact, more than half of the troops are stationed in Cambodia, and the same is true for tens of thousands of refugees who have evacuated south. Either Nongs or Catholic refugees, who were not so easily infiltrated, amounted to an extra line of defense in the west. ”

No wonder Cambodia protested some time ago.

Yang Wenming thought for a while, and Chen Shanqian continued: "There is a dispute over the ownership of Phu Quoc Island, and the establishment of a special zone and a security team, rather than being directly incorporated into Jianjiang Province, and not directly sending the national army to garrison it, is also based on this consideration. In addition, Cambodia is neutral, and ships from any country can dock at Kampong Son Port, and if you want to hold the Jinou Peninsula, you must guard the line from Phu Quoc Island and Ha Tien to Zhu Duk.

Therefore, the large-scale development of the south is not only an industrial development plan, but also a national defense plan. Five to six barbed wire fences will be pulled along the Hezhu Highway, minefields will be laid, and border posts and fortresses will be built along the Hezhu Highway, which will be started in the second half of the year. It's just that the development of industrial villages needs a stable environment and cannot be disclosed to the public. ”

People are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong, and the industrial investment company only does not say anything, and does not want a few industrial villages to become the target of Viet Minh elements.

Yang Wenming pondered for a moment, and then asked: "Why doesn't the national defense plan go through the Ministry of National Defense, and why doesn't the Phu Quoc Special Zone Security Force accept the command of the General Staff?" ”

Chen Shanqian smiled bitterly and asked, "When was the industrial investment company established?" ”

When the company was founded, the Ministry of National Defense was still empty, and the General Staff was still under the control of Nguyen Van Thanh.

Yang Wenming understood as if he had been empowered, and said to himself: "It was before, and now it is now, has it been allowed to keep the Phu Quoc Island security team out of the national defense system?" ”

"Mr. Min and Ruan Zhiren have mentioned this matter to me more than once, that the security team of the industrial investment company was established earlier, has its own system, and the quality of officers and soldiers is better than that of the national army, and the treatment is higher than that of the national army. Therefore, we unanimously agreed that we should not rush to achieve results, first set up a joint command in the fourth tactical area, and then merge into the national army when the conditions are ripe in the future. ”

"Are you sure it's not his expediency?"

"Chen Zhongyong can be the Minister of National Defense, if he is the kind of person who is greedy for power, let alone becoming a minister, he will agree to be Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem, and there will not be many people who oppose it."

I have to admit that Li Weimin's reputation is not one or two points high.

No one talks about his Chinese status anymore, and his influence among Chinese, businessmen, Catholics, young people, and Saigon citizens far exceeds that of Ngo Dinh Diem and opposition leader Phan Quang Dan. The new ambassador of the United States, Ambassador de Brow, has praised him and has respected him even for the most critical journalists.

Yang Wenming let out a long sigh, frowned and said, "I admit that he is a person who does the right thing, but ...... But why didn't he persuade Diem Diem? ”

Chen Shanqian thought that he knew Li Weimin very well, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The president is so stubborn, how can you persuade him?" If he could be persuaded to do so, he would have been gone for so long last year? ”

"He doesn't support Wu Tingyan to make a family?"

"Tran Shiguo talked to me, he said that Mr. Min has Mr. Min's hardships, Mr. Min was born in Saigon, grew up in Saigon, and sees himself as a Vietnamese, and loves the country more than most Vietnamese, but others don't see it that way, at least they don't say that they will wonder if he is a Vietnamese.

He doesn't want to express his views politically, but wants to change the country through actions and efforts, such as bankrupting his family to develop industry, raising funds for relief, funding higher education and vocational education, and trying to protect the opposition behind bars. (To be continued.) )