This question made Chiang Kai-shek very irritable for a while, but he did not forget today's business, sorted out some confused thoughts, and did not answer He Yingqin and Zhang Zhizhong, but continued to say: "Song Wenge's actions show that the matter of defending the frontier is extremely important in his mind. ”

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Zhang Zhizhong and said: "As Wen Bai said, Song Wenge neither loves money nor pursues power, which is enough to show that he and Yan Xishan can only be a temporary expedient measure." He now has more than 100,000 troops stationed in Outer Mongolia, and he will never transfer these troops back, even if all his troops in Laiyuan will not be pulled to the front line, he will definitely leave behind powerful troops and be ready to respond to Outer Mongolia at all times, and this force will never be less than 100,000. ”

Therefore, even if he participates in the war, the maximum number of troops he can use is only about 200,000. Moreover, according to the information I received, Song Wenge's troops were used as Yan Xishan's general reserve, that is, he did not participate in the war at the beginning of the war. So that his 400,000 people hardly have to think about it. ”

In this way, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Zhang Xueliang, and Song Wenge, the more than 1.2 million main forces that oppose the central government, can be put into front-line operations with a maximum of 500,000. The remaining warlords' troops, large and small, still have four or five hundred thousand troops, and I have a way to deal with them. ”

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Dai Jitao, Zhang Qun, Song Ziwen, Wu Zhihui and others, who had gradually relaxed their expressions, and deliberately raised his voice and said: "He Jian just helped the Central Army crusade against the Gui system last year, and the reason why the Gui system was defeated so quickly is not only because Li Mingrui, Yang Tenghui and others defected on the battlefield, disrupting the deployment of the Gui system, but also has a great relationship with him He Yunqiao. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, who had more than 100,000 main forces that were almost intact, had no good way. ”

"If Yan Xishan's troops attack Hunan, it's okay, and he He Yunqiao can still keep his position as provincial chairman, but if Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi's Gui family go to Hunan, he He Jian will have to weigh more. Once I, Jiang Zhongzheng, go into the wilderness, will Li Zongren let him go? Even Cheng Qian is afraid that he will be very happy to be the chairman of Hunan Province. At that time, in order to win over Li Zongren's Gui family and Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan would not shield him. Husband, send for him these words of mine, and tell them the truth. Tell him again that as long as he works for the Central Committee with peace of mind, I, Jiang Zhong, will not forget his benefits, and no one will move his position as provincial chairman. ”

"Also, I have discussed with Jing Zhi to set up a Wuhan camp in Hankou, and Jing Zhi will lead part of the elite of the Central Army to sit in Hankou and preside over the military administration of Central China, South China, and Southwest China. In addition, Zhu Yizhi has returned to Nanchang to control the troops, and with Jingzhi there, He Yunqiao does not dare to make any changes. ”

"Sichuan's Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang are easier to handle."

Chiang Kai-shek calmly said to Chen Guofu and to everyone: "It's better for Guofu to send someone to tell Liu Xiang that he really wants to be the chairman of this province?" You can tell him that whoever supports the central government, this Sichuan provincial chairman is whoever. I also told him that I support the abolition of Sichuan's defense zone system, and that Sichuan's military and political affairs should be truly unified and placed under the control of the provincial chairman. In addition, if you let people secretly let out the wind, let's say that Liu Xiang secretly contacted the central government and hoped to be the chairman of Sichuan Province......"

He Jian's purpose of opposing Jiang is very simple, he is not like Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren and others who want to make a difference in the power center of the central political axe, he just wants to be his provincial chairman in peace and stability, and Yan Xishan secretly communicates with him just to leave a way back.

And this is mostly to prevent Chiang Kai-shek from going into the wilderness, Li Zongren will find him trouble, unless it is absolutely necessary, he is not willing to give Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi the opportunity to find him trouble, of course, he definitely does not want to see Li Zongren have a place in the future central political axe. As long as Chiang Kai-shek does not go into the wilderness, Li Zongren will be helpless to take him. With this promise given to him by Chiang Kai-shek, he could naturally relax and cut off contact with Yan Xishan and others.

As for Chiang Kai-shek's methods of dealing with Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang in Sichuan, although they were somewhat disgraceful, they must have been very effective.

Since the 7th year of the Republic of China, Xiong Kewu, who has been in charge of the military and civilian affairs of Sichuan in the name of Commander-in-Chief of Sichuan Jing, has decided to allocate local taxes according to the garrison areas of each army, and each army will use it from the collection bureaus of each county on its own as the need for food and salary. The Sichuan warlord defense system was thus formed. Because the various armies have been stationed in the defense area for a long time, they not only collect food and salary in the defense area, but also interfere in political affairs, appoint officials, and collect taxes in advance, so that the defense area has become a "reading kingdom" divided by warlords. In order to develop their own forces, expand their defense areas, and compete for hegemony in Sichuan, the warlords have constantly stepped up their battles.

From the early days of the Republic of China to the present, there have been more than 400 melee battles between large and small warlords in Sichuan, most of which occurred after the formation of the defense zone system. In the second half of the 15th year of the Republic of China, in order to protect themselves, the Sichuan warlords in the chaos sent representatives to Wuhan and Changsha to express their sincerity to the National Revolutionary Army carrying out the Northern Expedition, expressing their recognition of the national political axe and agreeing to the reorganization of the army. Therefore, in the name of commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, Chiang Kai-shek successively appointed Sichuan warlords Yang Sen, Liu Xiang, Lai Xinhui, Liu Chengxun, Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, and Tian Songyao as commanders of the National Revolutionary Army. The aim is to divide and conquer.

Although these people were already members of the National Revolutionary Army, they continued to attack each other, and the reason was that they all wanted to expand their defense areas, so as to use the increased finance and taxation to expand their power, and then get involved in the supreme power in Sichuan.

And the two largest forces in Sichuan, and the most likely to dominate the whole of Sichuan, are Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang, who was the most powerful among the Sichuan warlords and was brave in the war, nicknamed "Ba Gecko", had long coveted the position of provincial chairman, and if there was Chiang Kai-shek's support, Liu Wenhui would definitely not be his opponent. Hearing the rumor that Chiang Kai-shek was going to support Liu Xiang, I believe that even if he borrowed Liu Wenhui's courage, he did not dare to lead his troops out of Sichuan, unless he did not want to return to Sichuan.

The vigorous 1 hundred thousand anti-Chiang coalition troops were wiped out by Chiang Kai-shek's understated talk and laughter, which could not help but make the people in the room excited.

Chiang Kai-shek also sensed this change and decided to make more efforts to calm down these people, including the important people in the party who could influence them, so that the adverse effects caused by Wang Jingwei's return to China could be minimized.

"As for Shi Yousan!"

As soon as Shi Yousan was mentioned, Chiang Kai-shek showed an expression of extreme disgust, and said with a calm face: "According to the information intercepted by Yunong, Zhao Pilian had already gone to Shi Yousan on behalf of Yan Xishan a few years ago. Although Shi Yousan promised to send troops to oppose the central government, he proposed to Zhao Pilian for a promotion fee of 1 million yuan, otherwise he would threaten to stand on the side of the central government. ”

Zhang Qun interjected with a smile: "This Shi Yousan is not small, has he forgotten the bombardment of Nanjing last year?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek sneered slightly and said: "Shi Yousan was promoted by Feng Yuxiang to the main force commander of the Northwest Army as a horseman, and it can be said that Feng Yuxiang is as kind to him as a mountain. But how did he treat Feng Yuxiang? ”

"He has betrayed Feng Yuxiang twice, but Yan Xishan still doesn't take precautions, it's really ridiculous. I have already given Shi Yousan the chairman of Anhui Province, but he is still not satisfied, and he even betrayed the central government with Tang Mengxiao, and even did such a bold thing as bombarding Nanjing. ”

Then he said hatefully: "If it weren't for Yan Xishan and Han Xiangfang interceding with him last time, I would have cleaned him up with Tang Mengxiao." For such a shameless villain, I will not accept him anymore, only kill him. ”

When Chiang Kai-shek said the phrase "only kill" again, he waved his hand fiercely, and at the same time exhaled a long breath, as if he wanted to spit out all the resentment in his heart.

Chiang Kai-shek, who calmed down his emotions a little, looked around at everyone, and said with a smile on his face: "In order to save Yan Xishan a few dollars, Zhao Pilian talked to Shi Yousan, and Shi Yousan agreed to give 800,000 yuan." Zhao Pilian happily sent a telegram to Yan Xishan to report the victory. But what he never expected was that Yan Xishan, who received the telegram, was so angry that he said on the spot, "As soon as the officials of Shanxi go out, they will become emperors, and they will give away the hard-earned money of the people of Shanxi at will." He resolutely disagreed with 800,000, believing that Shi Yousan's troops were less than 50,000 people, and giving 500,000 would be enough. ”

After receiving a telegram from Yan Xishan who only agreed to give 500,000 yuan and reprimanded him at the same time, Zhao Pilian, who was full of joy, was very embarrassed and helpless, so he had to bite the bullet and tell Shi Yousan. 1 million finally became 500,000, Shi Yousan, who wanted to make a fortune, of course didn't do it, but later Han Xiangfang called to persuade him, and Shi Yousan reluctantly agreed. ”

Chiang Kai-shek said unsatisfactorily: "Yan Xishan, the rich man of the land, will be killed by his miserliness sooner or later." ”

Song Ziwen also smiled and said: "Yan Xishan, the rich man, is not generous, if he gives 300,000 more, he will get a strong army, this account can't be calculated, in my opinion, Yan Xishan will only calculate small accounts, not big accounts, he is not a person who has achieved great things, but a Shanxi old man with great ambitions and talents." According to a report by Tianjin Customs, Wenge has used millions of imported reinforced cement alone in the past few months, which Yan Xishan would never have done. ”

"However, since Shi Yousan has a complaint against Yan Xishan, this is just an opportunity, since Shi Yousan took Yan Xishan's 500,000, we will give him another 500,000 and pull him over."

For his brother-in-law, Song Ziwen knows very well that he is the best at bribing and winning over opponents, how can he let go of such an opportunity?

"Nope! I'm not going to give him a piece of ocean. Chiang Kai-shek said resolutely.

Chiang Kai-shek's words not only made Song Ziwen stunned, but also the vast majority of people in the room. Although Shi Yousan had bombarded Nanjing, at this critical moment when the anti-Chiang coalition forces were about to be overwhelmed, according to common sense, Chiang Kai-shek would never give up this opportunity to increase himself and weaken the enemy.

(To be continued)