Slowly closing the confidential file marked with five black stars, Yang Du, who had not slept all night, leaned back on the soft and comfortable chair, and gently rubbed his sour eyes and acupoints, seemingly relaxing with all his heart, but in fact, his brain was still spinning rapidly.

From the beginning of Yang Du's decision to come to Nanjing to assist Xiao Yimin, it has been a month and a half, in this short and busy period of more than 40 days, Yang Du's life can be said to be both happy and fulfilling, Xiao Yimin gave him great attention, respect and trust, and Yang Du's previous proprietor Yuan Shikai and all the superiors he met are completely different.

Xiao Yimin's courtesy, care and respect seem to be all contained in his gestures, and what is even more rare is his rigorous attitude and broad mind that he is not ashamed to ask questions and change his mistakes, and Xiao Yimin has given enough respect and trust to every adviser and every general, without the style of rewarding him with heavy money at every turn, without deliberate praise, nor the demeanor of a corporal with courtesy and virtue that the superiors are accustomed to, and there is no trace of hypocrisy and artificiality that is just a formality.

Everything Xiao Yimin shows is so natural and calm, harmonious and tranquil, but it makes people feel warm and convincing.

Because of this, Xiao Yimin gradually won the recognition of more than ten famous people who were put into the account at the same time such as Yang Du, from Sun Baoqi and Lin Baishui to those who have been famous for a long time, and down to Gu Weijun, Zhang Qun and other famous heroes, all of whom are using diligent and effective actions and achievements to express their loyalty to the young commander Xiao Yimin.

Although everyone is busy every day, there is a rare sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in everyone.

After coming to Nanjing, Yang had a very happy time, although the position of secretary general is extremely important, especially in the initial stage of Nanjing's camp, a large number of affairs need Yang Du to plan, implement, supervise and clapp, but for Yang Du, who is full of economy and experience, most of the affairs are just a gesture, and it did not consume much of his energy, but it is to raise some members of the department and bring him a lot of time, but Yang Du enjoys it, and he does not deserve the trust that Xiao Yimin gave him.

It's just that Xiao Yimin's military system has long been self-contained, and all aspects have been very perfect, plus the successful end of the counterinsurgency war, there are not many military aircraft that need to be consulted by the heads of various departments in the camp, and almost the same affairs are repeated every day, which makes Yang Du feel a little depressed, although he knows that he has just arrived and can't be in a hurry, but Yang Du, who is a shocking talent and has a very conceited surname, has a little loss and unwillingness in his heart from time to time.

After dinner last day, Yang Du returned to his office to work overtime, and just after reading the report documents of the day, after drinking a cup of Junshan tea, he saw Xiao Yimin in military uniform coming in alone.

Xiao Yimin came to Yang Du's side, put down a dossier, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry Mr. Huizi...... Due to the completion of the equipment installation of several production lines in advance of the Jinling Arsenal, two factory directors and several German experts came to the door early in the morning to report the good news, and invited me to attend the assembly workshop of the M1916 heavy machine gun, the latest M1918 short rifle and the commissioning ceremony of the bullet production line...... "I was happy, I stayed in the Jinling Arsenal for a whole day, and at noon I was poured a lot of wine by a group of masters of the factory, so I did not rush back, and in the evening I hosted a banquet for the American Consul General Davis and several heads of the Blue Flag Foreign Bank, so I came late. A few confidential documents that were supposed to be handed over to Mr. for his perusal this morning have only been delayed until now. ”

Seeing Yang Du get up to make tea for himself, Xiao Yimin hurriedly said that his wife and children had just come back from Shanghai today, and they had to go back and talk well, and when they turned around and walked to the door, Xiao Yimin turned around again and said with a smile:

"Since Mr. is unwilling to choose a courtyard in the city, let's wait for a while, and when the Qingliangshan Xingying compound is repaired, Mr. will simply live next door to me, and then I will bring my wife and two senior brothers together, so that Mr. will not have a fixed place for three meals."

Yang Du was quite moved when he heard this, and when he saw the black cover of the thick dossier left by Xiao Yimin, and the five-star top secret logo on the cover, the whole person was immediately stunned in the chair, and immediately opened the dossier after a daze, and then stretched out his slightly trembling hand like a demon, forcibly resisted the excitement in his heart, and carefully flipped through every document stamped with a bright red "top secret" stamp.

Yang Du couldn't let go of this look anymore, and the whole person was in a state of extreme shock and excitement, until he had a dry mouth and wanted to stand up to add tea, only to find that his legs and waist had stiffened, and his hands kept trembling slightly.

A cup of cold tea was poured into his stomach, and Yang Du slowly recovered.

Maybe it was because he was alone in the middle of the night, Yang Du, who never easily moved his emotions, his eyes were moist, and his eyes were on the top secret documents in front of him for a long time, sighing. He clearly knew that until this moment, he could be regarded as having gained Xiao Yimin's absolute trust and respect, and only then did he truly step into the inner circle of Xiao Yimin's group, and realized Xiao Yimin's respect and ardent expectations for him.

What shocked Yang Du even more was that Xiao Yimin's real strength far exceeded his estimate, although Yang Du had overestimated Xiao Yimin's strength in his heart before, but after reading these top-secret documents sent by Xiao Yimin personally, Yang Du knew that Xiao Yimin's annual stable income in opium, salt tax, arms, technology transfer, etc., was as high as more than 30 million yuan, and this hidden huge income is still growing steadily every year.

Yang Du also saw Xiao Yimin's war potential for the first time, and the entire Sichuan army began to implement a unique military service system three years ago, with more than 8,000 officers and men retiring or changing jobs every year, and 8,000 recruits recruited from Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningbo every year to replenish it.

In addition, all units of the Sichuan Army stationed in the southern provinces are secretly expanding their troops, and the recruits from various provinces are immediately dispersed and integrated into the main forces after three months of rigorous training, and the so-called "passing on the help and leading" form of one belt and one belt to promote the improvement and integration of the recruits in all aspects.

These unheard-of unique means completely subverted Yang Du's military common sense, and Yang Du was stunned again and again after deep thought, not to mention that as long as the war requires, Xiao Yimin can pull out five divisions of retired veterans within a month, and he only needs to move equipment from the three secret arsenals established in Chengdu, Wanxian, and Yichang, and he can immediately put them into the battlefield. Looking at the whole country, which warlord has such great strength and foresight as Xiao Yimin?

Through these documents, Yang Du learned that the behind-the-scenes boss of the famous "American Lanqi International Investment Company" in recent years was Xiao Yimin's eldest brother Xiao Zhen, who had obtained American citizenship, and that this emerging multinational company involved in finance and import and export trade, shipbuilding, textiles, ocean shipping, iron and steel industry, and petroleum industry had total assets of more than 12 million US dollars, and was growing substantially every year. It turned out to be only a small shareholder hired by Xiao Yimin, and these two new rich people in the United States, who have become famous at home and abroad in recent years, also have the background of the American Rockefeller consortium.

What made Yang Du even more embarrassed was that through these top-secret documents, Yang Du finally understood how terrible the "Military Police Headquarters" under Xiao Yimin's command was, but from the scale and functions of the intelligence department and special service office secretly set up within the Military Police Headquarters, Yang Du immediately deduced the explosion that occurred in the Guangzhou Concession the day before yesterday, and then came to a preliminary conclusion: The Guangzhou explosion was only a small link in the huge reunification plan of Xiao Yimin's group, and it was just a secret operation in the branch plan of the "Two Guangxi Raiders"!

Although according to the current documents, Yang Du has not yet fully understood the significance of the "Lingao Base" and the follow-up development plan, the keen Yang Du has already faintly felt that Xiao Yimin has made great efforts to send dozens of people to lurk in the coastal areas of Qiongzhou and Guangdong in advance, and obtained the development rights of Lingao Port through the US agency in China and the Lanqi Company, which will not be used only to weaken the power of Guangdong.

Prior to this, people like Yang Du who have a great sense of wisdom and overall situation did not expect that Qiongzhou, which is across the sea from the two Guangzhou, would have such a huge strategic position, and they did not know that the island of Qiongzhou in addition to the agricultural advantages of three crops a year, actually contains hundreds of millions of tons of high-quality iron ore that is easy to mine, and this iron ore that has been quietly bought by the "Lanqi Company" is within 100 kilometers in a straight line from Lingao Port in the north and Changhua Fishing Port in the west.

In addition, there is also a top-secret plan that makes Yang Du stunned, and in addition to Xiao Yimin, Bao Jiqing, and Wang Lingji, the other two are Ma Zhu, the commander of the military police, who is in charge, and Yang Du, who has just seen the written plan.

After reading the whole plan, Yang Du knew the existence of Xiao Yimin's "generous assistance" Liu Bingxian's department a few years ago, if Xiao Yimin was a little more ruthless in the next net collection operation, Liu Bingxian, who was Xiao Yimin's second brother, would probably not understand until he died, the 8,000 mighty army he led had never escaped Xiao Yimin's real control, and the "elite revolutionary party army" still stationed in Chaozhou was responsible for stabilizing the Guangdong-Fujian border, deterring the landlord armed forces in the surrounding areas, and ensuring the safety of the transportation of aid materials in Yuben and Nanyang. The important task of securing the retreat of the headquarters of the revolutionary party.

Unconsciously, the sky was already cloudy, and Yang Du, who was in a state of flux, slowly put the document into the file, dipped a few drops of tea with his slender fingers, and gently polished the ink after dropping into the inkstone, and then lifted the brush, touched the inkstone, and signed his name and date neatly in the blank space of the last column behind the cover of the file.

After sorting out everything, Yang Du picked up the dossier like a thousand heavy objects, glanced at the top-secret level mark composed of five gold stars on the cover, exhaled a long breath, and left the office.

In the open space of the east courtyard of the West Garden, Xiao Yimin, who was wearing a silver-gray Tang costume practice uniform, was still concentrating on his skills, and a set of seemingly ordinary Wudang Taijiquan looked very slow and dignified in Xiao Yimin's hands.

Although Yang Du who entered the round courtyard gate is not a master, he is a well-informed boxing enthusiast who has a deep understanding of the way of health preservation, with his vision, it is enough to see that Xiao Yimin has been immersed in silver for this set of boxing techniques for a long time, and he has not been able to make such a charm for ten or eight years, so Yang Du stood quietly in the courtyard gate, watching with a smile, and waited until Xiao Yimin completed the stride to close the momentum, Yang Du happily greeted him, and praised loudly: "Handsome good boxing skills!" ”

Xiao Yimin was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled: "Sir, let's continue to call me Yiming, we are our own people, we don't need to see the outside world so much." ”

Yang Du suddenly put away his smile, handed the file to Xiao Yimin with both hands, then took a big step back, bent down respectfully, and made a big salute:

"Dashuai, please accept Yang Du's worship, you can get Dashuai so much, Yang Du has no regrets about life and death!"

(To be continued)