Chen Zikun took the Shanghai-Nanjing line from Shanghai to Nanjing, stayed in Nanjing for a day, visited the filial piety tomb, Confucius Temple and other places, and waited for the train ticket to get the train from crossing the river to the Pukou station on the north bank, and went north along the Jinpu Road.

This time to the north, Chen Zikun traveled alone, and the luggage was only a small suitcase, which was too easy compared with the last time he went south, the Jinpu line is the main railway artery running through the north and south, in a sense, and the status of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is almost the same, transporting coal and grain, and personnel exchanges, must rely on the Jinpu line.

Chen Zikun bought a first-class sleeper ticket for the Blue Steel Express, rarely saw Chinese faces in the carriage, the train equipment was very advanced, compared to European passenger cars, after a day's trek, arrived at Xuzhou, the intersection of Jinpu Road and Longhai Road.

Xuzhou is a small city, when you get off the train, it is dark at night, it is dark outside, the cold wind is howling, a few lonely electric lights are very bleak, out of the station to see, a city in the distance is full of shadows, the station staff saw that he was well-dressed, is a decent person, so he stepped forward and greeted: "Sir, the city gate has been closed at this point, there is a hotel at the railway station, you will stay for one night." ”

So, Chen Zikun stayed in Xuzhou for one night, got up the next morning, first bought a train ticket from Haizhou to Kaifeng, and then called a rickshaw to Xuzhou City to go around, Xuzhou City in winter, look at the past can not see a trace of green, gray city wall covered with dry grass, gray streets, gray sky, most of the houses are adobe walls, only the rich families in the Hubu Mountain area in the south of the city are brick houses.

This is the image of a typical Central Plains city, which makes Chen Zikun, who returned from overseas, a little frustrated, thinking that Luoyang is not much better than Xuzhou, and it is the right choice not to bring Jianbing.

Departure in the afternoon, along the Longhai line from east to west, the Longhai line is the east and west artery from Haizhou to Gansu, from the Guangxu years began to build, now only through a section of Jiangsu North Henan, this line can not be advanced blue steel express, the train is used for ten years of old goods, open up the clang, the speed is slow, until the next morning to arrive in Kaifeng.

The train entered the station with a large cloud of mist, Chen Zikun carried a suitcase mixed with the flow of passengers and walked outside the station, he was tall, like standing out from the crowd, he was found by a few soldiers waiting on the platform from afar, and shouted from dozens of steps away: "Big man Chen!" ”

Walking over, a white-skinned lieutenant officer greeted him enthusiastically and said, "Remember me?" ”

Chen Zikun smiled and said: "Isn't this Zhao Junxiu, we have been born and died, how can I forget you." ”

Zhao Yufeng laughed, helped Chen Zikun lift his luggage, and led him out of the station, a black car stopped on the road, two soldiers were squatting on the ground smoking, and a group of children dragging snot next to them looked at the car curiously.

"Old king! Lao Li! Chen Zikun shouted, and the two veterans who were squatting on the ground quickly stood up and snapped: "Hello, sir!" ”

Chen Zikun smiled and patted the shoulders of the two: "What is the chief and not the chief, they are all their own brothers, what's the matter with Lao Li, don't you change the car to the groom?" ”

Lao Wang Lao Li saw that although Chen Zikun was dressed in a foreign dress, he did not take a shelf, so he relaxed, but there was still some indescribable restraint between his speech and demeanor, Chen Zikun knew that there was already an invisible gap between them at this moment, and the name of this gap was class.

It was noon, the four of them ate a meal of mutton stewed noodles on the streets of Kaifeng, and then drove back, Kaifeng to Luoyang is still some distance, this car is the Zhilu Yu patrol envoy Fu Wei General Wu Peifu sent a special trip to pick up Chen Zikun, the handsome heart, sent are Chen Zikun's old buddies, along the way everyone smiled, talking about the past is more cordial.

"Our handsome is not as good as the beginning, last spring, the Feng army of 120,000 horses entered the customs in a big way, and was beaten back by our door, the battle was too long and majestic, and now people say that Luoyang sneezes, and it will rain in Beijing." Zhao Yufeng proudly talked about the Great War last year, when Chen Zikun was overseas, and the international community did not care about the situation of the Chinese Civil War, so he didn't know much.

"The marshal is really like a god." Chen Zikun muttered to himself.

"It's not just like a god, the handsome is a god, even Cao Laoshuai said, our handsome is the reincarnation of Qi Jiguang, I think this matter is reliable." Wang Degui said vividly, the gray cloth military uniform on his body was clean and tidy, and he still had a pair of new leather shoes on his feet, it seemed that the third division was also rising with Wu Peifu, and the level of military salary and supply had also risen.

When the car arrived in Luoyang, Chen Zikun found that his guess was wrong, probably because the line of the Zhilu and Henan patrol envoys was located here, Luoyang faintly became another political center of China, plus a large number of direct troops stationed nearby, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to eat, drink and Lazar can drive the local economy, the scale and prosperity of Luoyang City are far more than Xuzhou, and it is not much better than Kaifeng.

Wu Peifu met Chen Zikun in the study of Shuaifu, Luoyang is new and snowy, the rockery in the courtyard is covered with a thin layer of snowflakes, a few plum embellishments, more scholarly feeling, the handsome is wearing a azure satin jacket standing at the door, and he is wearing a fox fur earmuff on his ears.

"Kungo, you're back, it's good to be back." Seeing Chen Zikun come in, Wu Peifu had a smile on his face, like a loving father waiting for his son's return.

"Yushuai, I'm back." Chen Zikun stepped forward quickly, wanting to make a big salute, but was hugged by Wu Peifu: "The soldiers don't like this, come on, come on, come into the house, it's cold outside." ”

Entering the study, Chen Zikun opened the suitcase, took out his West Point graduation diploma, and the Zeiss telescope bought in Germany and presented it to the handsome, Wu Peifu took a closer look, and said three good words in a row, he naturally couldn't tell whether this thing full of foreign languages was a graduation certificate or a graduation certificate, and after reading it for a while, he returned it to Chen Zikun and said: "Keep it well." ”

Chen Zikun finally passed the test in a daze, secretly relieved, Wu Peifu asked about the Western military ideas and the latest weapons and equipment, Chen Zikun naturally answered fluently, and talked eloquently, Wu Peifu couldn't help nodding his head when he listened, and said: "Last year's battle of Zhifeng, although the Feng army was defeated, but the vitality was not injured, I heard that Zhang Zuolin recruited troops outside the pass, the whole army was martial, and wanted to avenge the enemy, within a year or two, the Feng army will inevitably go south again, and then it will be the time for you to show your skills." ”

Chen Zikun was overjoyed in his heart, knowing that his time had come.

Sure enough, Wu Peifu muttered: "Since you graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, you naturally can't be confused with those graduates of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy, but it's not good for young people to suddenly ascend to a high position...... So your rank and position should not be too high. ”

Chen Zikun's heart was cold again, he was only a second lieutenant on the eve of studying abroad, even if he was promoted to three levels, he was only a major, the major was the battalion commander, and there were only four or five hundred people under his hands.

Although he was disappointed in his heart, he didn't show it on his face, Wu Peifu continued: "It's not appropriate to be too low, just follow Wang Geng's precedent, give me the rank of colonel first, and serve as a first-class staff officer in the General Staff Office." ”

Captain! The treatment of being promoted to five levels in a row, the two-year trip to Europe and the United States is worth it, Chen Zikun arched his hand and said: "Xie Yushuai is promoted." ”

"Do a good job, first familiarize yourself with the affairs of the army, and when the time comes, let you be a regiment commander and then experience it, I am old, our direct family has a big business, and there must be some young people to pick it up." Wu Peifu said earnestly, with a look of expectation in his eyes.

"The humble position must live up to the high expectations of Yushuai." Chen Zikun stood upright, saluted an American-style military salute full of foreign flavor, and looked at Wu Peifu's red eyes, he couldn't help but say: "Yushuai, you have to take care of your body." ”

Wu Peifu waved his hand and said, "It's okay, the gang of clowns jumping off the beam on Jinghan Road won't be able to jump for long." ”

Dinner was eaten at Dashuaixing, and Mrs. Wu Wu also accompanied him personally, which was an extraordinary treatment, which showed that Wu Peifu did not treat Chen Zikun as an outsider at all.

……

The next day, Chen Zikun reported to the staff office, and officially became the senior staff officer in the staff office of the head of the eight major departments under the command of the marshal, and his status was second only to the chief of staff and the chief of staff.

His adjutant is Zhao Yufeng, a small lieutenant of the quartermaster department who has been depressed, Wang Degui and Li Changsheng have also been transferred to be Ma Ben, and now Chen Zikun is a big celebrity under Wu Peifu, and transferring these people is just a matter of one sentence.

Staff Officer Chen's residence is located near Dashuai Xingyuan, it is a small courtyard with two entrances, clean and tidy, and there is a pomegranate tree in the yard, Zhao Yufeng helped him hire an old mother, a cook, and told him that as long as he spends a hundred oceans, he can buy a yellow flower girl as a little wife.

A hundred oceans is not much, Chen Zikun's military salary plus subsidies such as carriage and horse expenses, ice and charcoal, etc., is as much as 500 yuan per month, and it is naturally not a matter of buying a daughter-in-law, but he has just returned from abroad, and he can't turn this tendon in his mind for a while, why does his daughter-in-law still need to buy it.

"What then?" He asked Zhao Yufeng.

"What else can I do, if I like it, take it away, if I don't like it, I don't want to leave it, a hundred yuan is expensive, if it is a disaster year, a pocket of noodles can be changed to a big girl." Zhao Yufeng talked about this matter.

Chen Zikun said: "Let's discuss this matter later, if you meet the right one, you can ask for a daughter-in-law for Lao Wang Lao Li, it's almost the New Year, the handsome promised me a month's vacation, I have to go back to Beijing, you prepare your luggage." ”

Zhao Yufeng said: "Beijing can't go now, the workers on Jinghan Road have all left their jobs, and the railway has been suspended." ”

Chan's heart moved, and he thought of an old friend.